Catholic values investing: the USCCB guidelines, explained
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops publishes Socially Responsible Investment Guidelines that give Catholic families — and the institutions that serve them — a principled framework for where their money should and should not go. This guide explains the six criteria, which fund families align with them, how they differ from Protestant biblically responsible investing, and what to look for in an advisor who actually knows the difference.
What are the USCCB Socially Responsible Investment Guidelines?
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops first issued formal investment guidance in 1991 and updated it most recently in 2021. The guidelines were written primarily to help Catholic institutions — dioceses, religious orders, endowments, parish foundations — make investment decisions consistent with Catholic social teaching. In practice, many Catholic families also use them as a personal compass.
The guidelines rest on three commitments: avoid harm (don't invest in companies whose activities contradict Catholic moral teaching), do good (prefer companies that contribute to human flourishing), and engage (use shareholder rights to advocate for change from inside companies that can't be avoided or replaced). The third commitment — shareholder advocacy — distinguishes the USCCB framework from simpler "just screen it out" approaches.
The six areas of the USCCB guidelines
The 2021 guidelines organize Catholic investment screening around six thematic areas. Each represents a dimension of Catholic social teaching:
1. Protecting human life
The clearest-cut criteria. Catholics are directed to avoid investment in companies that derive revenue from abortion services or abortifacient products, contraception production, embryonic stem-cell research that destroys embryos, and human cloning. This is the area with the most overlap with Protestant BRI funds, which also prioritize sanctity-of-life screens — but the USCCB extends the screen to contraception in a way most Protestant BRI funds do not. A portfolio manager who has built BRI-aligned portfolios may not be building USCCB-aligned ones on this specific issue without awareness of the distinction.
2. Promoting human dignity
Avoid investment in pornography, adult entertainment, and companies whose business models depend on trafficking or sexual exploitation. This broadly aligns with Protestant BRI exclusions. The USCCB also includes attention to companies whose employment or supply-chain practices are inconsistent with respect for human dignity — wage theft, unsafe conditions, systematic rights violations.
3. Reducing arms
Avoid investment in companies that produce weapons of mass destruction — nuclear, biological, chemical, landmines, and cluster munitions. The guidelines stop short of a blanket ban on conventional defense contractors (the Church supports a right to legitimate self-defense), which makes USCCB criteria more nuanced on weapons than some other faith-based screens that exclude the entire defense sector.
4. Pursuing economic justice
This criterion extends into business conduct: avoiding companies involved in predatory lending or usurious practices, considering labor rights and fair wages, and looking at how corporate power is exercised relative to workers, communities, and developing-world producers. Catholic social teaching has a deep tradition here — from Rerum Novarum (1891) to Laudato Si' — that goes further on economic justice than most Protestant BRI frameworks.
5. Protecting the environment
The USCCB guidelines express concern about investment in companies that cause disproportionate environmental harm, drawing on the Catholic tradition of stewardship of creation and on Pope Francis's encyclical Laudato Si' (2015). This is the area of greatest divergence from Protestant BRI, which typically emphasizes sanctity-of-life and sexual ethics screens but does not systematically weight environmental stewardship. A Catholic investor who cares about both life issues and environmental responsibility may find that no single screened fund covers both adequately.
6. Encouraging corporate responsibility
The guidelines commit Catholic institutional investors to exercising their ownership rights: filing shareholder resolutions, engaging companies in dialogue on ethics and governance, and voting proxies consistent with Catholic social teaching. This is the "stay and engage" dimension. For families who own individual stocks or mutual funds, the practical form of this commitment is proxy voting — and some specialized services allow you to vote your mutual fund shares according to Catholic values even if the fund itself doesn't do it.
Catholic investing vs. Protestant BRI: where they differ
| Issue | USCCB / Catholic approach | Typical Protestant BRI approach |
|---|---|---|
| Abortion | Exclude; broad definition including abortifacients | Exclude; similar scope |
| Contraception | Exclude (consistent with Church teaching) | Generally not screened |
| Pornography | Exclude | Exclude |
| Gambling | Concern, but less systematically screened than in Protestant BRI | Standard exclusion in most funds |
| Alcohol & tobacco | Not a primary exclusion category | Standard exclusion in many BRI funds |
| Environment | Explicit positive criterion via Laudato Si' | Rarely a primary screen |
| Labor/economic justice | Explicit criterion via Catholic social teaching | Less emphasis than Catholic framework |
| Shareholder advocacy | A formal commitment in the guidelines | Optional; practiced by some funds (Inspire) |
The practical implication: an advisor who tells you they offer "BRI" may be building a portfolio aligned with Protestant fund screens — but not with the USCCB guidelines on contraception, environmental stewardship, or economic justice. Catholic investors should ask specifically about USCCB alignment, not just BRI.
Fund families with Catholic screens
A growing number of fund families have built investment platforms designed to align with Catholic values. Screens and methodologies vary, so verify the current prospectus before investing.
Ave Maria Mutual Funds
The most prominent retail Catholic fund family in the U.S. Founded with input from a Catholic Advisory Board that includes theologians and medical ethicists, Ave Maria funds apply screens against abortion, contraception, pornography, and non-marital behavior, guided by an advisory board that explicitly maps to Catholic moral teaching. Offers equity, bond, and balanced options. avemariafunds.com
Christian Brothers Investment Services (CBIS)
CBIS manages investments for Catholic institutions — religious orders, healthcare systems, dioceses — and applies USCCB-aligned criteria including life issues, environmental stewardship, and shareholder advocacy. More accessible to institutional investors than retail families; some advisor relationships can provide access to CBIS strategies. cbisonline.com
Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors
The Knights of Columbus, the Catholic fraternal and insurance organization, manages investment strategies through its asset management arm using morally responsible investing criteria consistent with Catholic teaching. Available through affiliated advisors and some direct channels. kofcassetadvisors.org
Note on other BRI funds for Catholic investors
Timothy Plan, Eventide, and Inspire — prominent Protestant BRI families — are partly compatible with Catholic values but differ on contraception (not screened) and may differ on other criteria. A Catholic investor using these funds should do so knowingly, understanding where the screens diverge from USCCB guidelines. A faith-aligned advisor can map the gaps explicitly.
The shareholder advocacy option
Not every company can be avoided, and some Catholic investors and institutions choose to stay engaged rather than divest. Shareholder advocacy means:
- Voting proxies consistently with Catholic values — especially on executive compensation, board diversity, and social issue resolutions
- Filing resolutions requesting disclosure, policy changes, or governance reforms on issues like labor rights and environmental practices
- Engaging management directly in dialogue — an approach Catholic institutions with meaningful share positions have used effectively
For individual investors who own mutual fund shares, proxy voting is typically handled by the fund. Services such as the one CBIS provides for institutional investors formalize this commitment. Inspire Investing offers a proxy voting service for individual account shares as well, though with a Protestant BRI orientation.
Practical steps for Catholic investors
- Identify the accounts you can control. A Roth IRA, traditional IRA, and taxable brokerage account give you full fund choice. A 401(k) is limited to the plan menu — prioritize employer accounts with the match, then fill controllable accounts with values-aligned funds.
- Know your constraints specifically. Do you want USCCB-level screens (including contraception and environmental stewardship) or broader Protestant BRI screens? The answer narrows your fund universe and informs which advisor relationships will actually serve you.
- Ask about old 401(k) rollovers. A rollover from a former employer's 401(k) to a self-directed IRA lets you choose any fund — including Catholic-screened options. This is often the right move for values-committed investors.
- Find an advisor who knows the USCCB guidelines by name. Not just "we do faith-based investing." Ask: "What's the USCCB approach to contraception and environmental criteria, and how does that differ from the Timothy Plan screen?" A correct, unprompted answer is a strong signal. A vague one isn't.
Questions to ask an advisor about Catholic values investing
- Are you familiar with the USCCB Socially Responsible Investment Guidelines — specifically the contraception exclusion and the environmental criteria?
- Do you have access to Ave Maria, CBIS, or Knights of Columbus fund strategies, or are you offering Protestant BRI funds as the Catholic option?
- How do you handle my 401(k) or 403(b) if it has no Catholic-screened options?
- Do you incorporate shareholder advocacy or proxy voting into your recommendations?
- How do you think about the performance implications of the USCCB screens, specifically?
These questions reveal whether an advisor has genuinely thought through the Catholic framework or is fitting you into an existing Protestant BRI template. Either can be appropriate, but you should choose with clarity. See our Certified Kingdom Advisor guide for more questions that separate real alignment from marketing, and our biblically responsible investing overview for the broader Protestant BRI context.
Sources
- USCCB Socially Responsible Investment Guidelines — U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, updated 2021. Primary reference for the six criteria described in this guide.
- Ave Maria Mutual Funds — Catholic Advisory Board methodology and fund lineup; screens consistent with Catholic moral teaching including the contraception exclusion.
- Christian Brothers Investment Services (CBIS) — Catholic institutional asset management; USCCB-aligned SRI criteria including shareholder engagement for dioceses, religious orders, and healthcare systems.
- Humanae Vitae (Pope Paul VI, 1968) — foundational Church teaching on contraception and human life, underlying the USCCB contraception exclusion in investment guidelines.
- Laudato Si' (Pope Francis, 2015) — encyclical on care for creation; basis for the environmental stewardship criteria in the USCCB investment guidelines.
USCCB guidelines verified against the 2021 update. Fund screens and methodologies may change — always verify with the fund's current prospectus before investing. This guide reflects the guidelines as of June 2026.
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