Catholic Church Urges Divestment in Mining "Death Projects"

Sister Maamalifar M. Poreku, Missionary Sister of Our Lady of Africa, said, according to Vatican News, that integral ecology requires not only compassion but systemic transformation. The path forward is "to align faith and economic choices", she said, referring to "martyred territories" sacrificed for profit.

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Inspired by the late Pope Francis' environmental encyclical, the Catholic Church initiated a divestment platform in global mining, which violates human rights and destroys the environment, reported 7Margens (March 20).

The Catholic Church's governing Holy See did not provide a list of organizations involved in the initiative, and it did not specify any mining companies that could be at risk for disinvestment, reported Reuters (March 20).

At the Holy See Press Office in the Vatican, Brazilian Bishop Vicente Ferreira, an advisor to the network, stressed that disinvestment is not just a financial strategy, it is a moral obligation, according to Vatican News (March 26).

"We cannot commit ourselves to projects of death; it is a sin."

The initiative mobilizes more than 40 Catholic institutions to withdraw money from destructive and inhumane mining activities. It was led by Iglesias y Minería (Churches and Mining), an ecumenical network of organizations, church groups and activists for the rights of indigenous peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean who work to support communities affected by mining, reported Vatican News.

The initiative was broadened beyond the borders of the Americas to the world. After all, the race for critical minerals is a global one. Materials, for example, such as lithium, cobalt and nickel, are used for producing batteries for cars, phones and computers, according to The Future of European Competitiveness (September 2024), by Mario Draghi, former president of the European Central Bank.

If countries fully implement their national energy and climate pledges, demand for critical minerals is set to expand with the acceleration of new energy technologies. Mineral demand would more than double by 2030 and triple by 2040, reaching nearly 35 million tonnes (Mt) annually, according to the International Energy Agency (May 17, 2024).

Lithium Mining in Portugal

In Portugal, lithium mining is a hotly contested issue. The conditional environmental approvals in 2023 of Savannah Resources' Barroso and Lusorecursos' Romano lithium mines in Trás-os-Montes, in northern Portugal, have not cooled down the eight years of opposition to the mines due to their air pollution, noise, water demand and the destruction of a sustainable rural way of life.

The contested mines are in the region classified as a World Agricultural Heritage by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Most recently, the global law organization, ClientEarth, and the local Unidos em Defesa de Covas do Barroso Association, have sued the European Commission for granting "strategic project" status, under the Critical Raw Materials Regulation, to the Savannah Resources lithium mine.

I live in the foothills of the Serra da Estrela which, until February 2022, also had been considered for lithium exploration. I oppose lithium mining in Portugal.

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DON'T LET YOUR MONEY BE A WEAPON OF DESTRUCTION, reads the campaign poster. (Photo from 7Margens @Rede Iglesias y Mineria)

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Investments "Are Not Neutral"

Brazilian Bishop Vicente Ferreira argued that investments "are not neutral" and that the Catholic Church must break with the financing of socio-environmental crimes, which fuel new forms of colonialism, reported 7Margens.

Ferreira spoke of false solutions of so-called "green capitalism" and of rapidly evolving scenarios of conflict which raise further concerns for Latin American and Caribbean peoples, reported Vatican News. These territories are targeted increasingly by a new form of military neocolonialism driven by the demand for "rare earths" to sustain global power structures.

How Will It Work

The new platform offers practical guidance for dioceses and congregations to analyze their funds, ensuring that resources do not support multinational corporations which hold states hostage and ignore the right of self-determination of local populations, reported 7Margens.

The presentation highlighted the urgency of a new economic paradigm based on justice, local empowerment and financial coherence.

Pope Francis' Commitment to "Our Common Home"

Cardinal Fabio Baggio, adjunct secretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, presided over the public announcement of the initiative, emphasizing that the platform is a "concrete sign" of the ecological respect advocated by Pope Francis, who died on April 21 last year, the day after Easter.

The Argentinian pope was the first Catholic Church leader to issue an encyclical -- Laudato Si', mi Signore (Praise be to you, my Lord) (2015), -- solely on the environment -- "a dialogue with everyone about our common home". The encyclical addresses issues such as pollution and climate change; water; loss of biodiversity; decline in the quality of life; global inequality, the mystery of the universe; technology: creativity and power; environmental, economic and social ecology; justice between the generations; ecological education and spirituality, and dialogue.

In 2020, Pope Francis wrote Querida Amazônia (Beloved Amazon), an apostolic exhortation, in which he summed up the Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazonian Region, the first meeting of its kind to be organized around a distinct ecological territory, according to America: The Jesuit Review (February 12, 2020).

"Listen to the Voices" of the People

At the Holy See Press Office in the Vatican, Yolanda Flores, an Aymara leader from Peru, described environmental and health concerns linked to mining on land of the indigenous peoples, reported Vatican News. Communities, she said, are seeking investigation of contamination and the effects of heavy metals.

Cardinal Fabio Baggio said that mineral extraction often has occurred without consultation with local communities and without regard for ecosystem limits.

The divestment platform is "an act of coherence with our faith, with the defense of human dignity, and with the commitment to care for our common home.

"It is essential to listen to the voices of communities who experience first-hand the challenges and conflicts caused by both legal and illegal mining. We cannot remain silent in the face of evident injustices."