In a media release on October 4, Fr Gary Walker, Regional Director of the Columbans in Australia and New Zealand wrote:
Columban Missionaries are today joining with several other Catholic institutions from around the world in pledging to divest from fossil fuels.
Inspired by Pope Francis and in honour of September’s Season of Creation and the Feast of St Francis, the Missionary Society of St Columban pledges to take steps to divest from fossil fuels over the next five years.
Pope Francis writes in the encyclical Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home, that “technology based on the use of highly polluting fossil fuels ….needs to be progressively replaced without delay” (par. 165) and “A change in lifestyle could bring healthy pressure to bear of those who wield political, economic, and social power. This is what consumer movements accomplish by boycotting certain products” (par.206).
Columban Superior General Fr Kevin O’Neill, says of the pledge, “Columbans have a long history of commitment to caring for the Earth as part of our missionary identity. We see our Socially and Environmentally Responsible Investment policy as an important expression of that commitment and therefore are exploring ways to direct our investments towards funds which respond positively to our issue priorities such as renewable energy.”