The Vatican’s Secretariat for the Economy has announced a new policy that will govern all investments by offices of the Roman Curia. The policy will take effect September 1.

All Vatican offices will be required to turn their investments over to the care of APSA. (APSA is the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See, the office that handles Vatican investments.) APSA will set up a single investment fund, with accounts in that fund for each Vatican office.

The APSA fund will be invested under the guidance of an expert committee, which will weigh not only the returns on capital but also the principles of Catholic social teaching. A Vatican statement explained:

The new Investment Policy aims to ensure that investments are aimed at contributing to a more just and sustainable world; protecting the real value of the Holy See’s net worth, generating a sufficient return to contribute sustainably to the financing of its activities; and are aligned with the teachings of the Catholic Church, with specific exclusions of financial investments that contradict its fundamental principles, such as the sanctity of life or the dignity of the human being or the common good. In this sense, it is important that they be aimed at financial activities of a productive nature, excluding those of a speculative nature, and above all that they be guided by the principle that the decision to invest in one place rather than another, in one productive sector rather than another, is always a moral and cultural choice.

The new policy will be in place on an experimental basis for five years.