Transparency guaranteed

adminonJanuary 14, 2022January 5, 2022Leave a Comment

Archbishopric General Vicariate Cologne © Alexander Foxius (DR)

With a lawsuit, the research center "Correctiv" wanted to force the archdiocese of Cologne to make public investments in companies, bonds or shares. The administrative court has now dismissed the complaint – much to the delight of the archdiocese.

"Every euro from the church tax that members provide us with is used for church-related tasks. This is decided predominantly by elected representatives of the members," explains Vicar General Markus Hofmann. "Pastoral care, Caritas and education are at the center of this process. In surveys, people – not only Catholics – confirm that they value this commitment very much. We invest funds that serve as provisions for long-term obligations in accordance with ethical and sustainable principles, without exception. There is full transparency and regular reports."

Transparency and control of the investment of assets and the use of funds would be ensured by the Church Tax and Economic Council, which is composed of church taxpayers and predominantly elected (23 of 28 members), the archdiocese announced on Thursday. Church taxes would be collected and used exclusively for the financial needs of parishes, church institutions and works as well as diocesan and supra-diocesan church purposes. The income and use of church tax are documented in the annual financial statements and business plans prepared in accordance with legal requirements, which are published annually and can be accessed on the archdiocese's website, the statement continues

Binding requirements for bonds

In the case of investments, which are primarily used to hedge long-term obligations such as.B. The archdiocese follows investment guidelines for the pension plan of its employees. These include binding guidelines on how the assets can be invested in the various forms of investment in accordance with Christian values, including the responsible treatment of creation. The ethically-sustainable investment criteria are the result of an intensive and broad discussion with the Church Tax and Economic Council. In implementation, an external service provider (imug Beratungsgesellschaft fur sozial-okologische Innovationen mbH) selects the securities to be excluded from the investment based on the investment criteria of the Archbishopric of Cologne. This excludes the financing of companies and states whose activities or actions fundamentally contradict Christian values.

The ethically-sustainable investment criteria of the Archdiocese of Cologne are published in the financial report and exclude, for example, investments that involve violations or allegations in connection with bribery and corruption, human rights, forced or child labor, environmental pollution, as well as the production of armaments, pornography or means in connection with abortion or contraception. Also excluded are the ownership or operation of nuclear power plants without a time-fixed decision to phase them out. In order to sustainably support the necessary transformation from fossil to other energy sources, the Archdiocese of Cologne pursues a best-in-class approach to investments in the energy sector, taking into account a variety of sustainability aspects that relate to all relevant areas of the respective corporate activity, the statement says.

Control by independent auditors

Compliance with the ethical-sustainable investment guidelines is checked annually by an independent auditor. "There is full member control over the use of financial resources and over investments. For this purpose, we use the established and proven procedures in our company. The elected bodies ensure that this is the case," says Vicar General Hofmann. The capital investment management of the Archdiocese of Cologne is designed to enable the church to fulfill its tasks and to secure them in the long term, also under aspects of sustainability. Hofmann: "The church is there for people in pastoral care, charity and education, and thus also makes a contribution to an intact society worth living in. This of course includes the long-term preservation of creation."

The G8 summit is on shaky ground. The heads of state and government of the seven leading industrial nations and Russia will meet in the Italian earthquake region of Abruzzo starting Wednesday for their annual summit meeting. Despite persistent earth tremors, conference venue and press center in L'Aquila made a good impression, German government officials ared in Berlin Tuesday. The future of the G8 summit itself, however, does not seem at all certain.

Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi had surprisingly moved the meeting with his colleagues from the enchanting Sardinian island of La Maddalena to the earthquake city. It is possible that the head of government, who has recently been tarnished by sex scandals and nude photos at the swimming pool, merely wanted to prevent more bathing pictures from being taken. The official reason, however, was solidarity with the region destroyed by an earthquake at the beginning of April, where tens of thousands of people are still homeless.German Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) will visit the village of Onna, near L'Aquila, immediately before the start of the G8 summit. On 11. In June 1944, the Wehrmacht massacred 17 civilians there. In the earthquake, almost all the buildings in the village have been razed to the ground, and more than 40 of the 300 inhabitants have lost their lives. Germany has therefore concentrated its reconstruction aid on the village. "We are full of confidence in the Italian host, who has put a lot of energy into moving the meeting venue in order to send a political signal," was the statement from the German government ahead of the summit. Any doubts about the political qualities of the dazzling head of government were dismissed in Berlin. Berlusconi is by no means only interested in nice photos, but is a "very good" and "very committed" negotiator. The G8 summit will be successful and by no means the last of its kind. Merkel, however, had already recently made it clear in the Bundestag where the diplomatic journey was headed: "The summit in L'Aquila will make it clear that this G8 format is no longer sufficient. The world is growing together, and the problems "can no longer be solved by the industrialized countries alone," the chancellor stressed. The Heiligendamm Process, launched two years ago under the German G8 presidency, is logically entering the next round in 'LAquila. The extension of the dialogue with the emerging countries Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa for another two years will be one of the results of the summit. The top-level meeting itself will also be marked by extended rounds of talks. At the beginning of the meeting, the leaders of the United States, Germany, Japan, Great Britain, Canada, France, Italy and Russia will discuss among themselves the global economy in crisis, climate change and development aid. At a dinner, foreign policy conflict hotspots such as Iran, the Middle East, Afghanistan and North Korea and questions of disarmament will be on the agenda.On the second day of the summit, however, the G8 round will be expanded once again to include Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa (G5). At Berlusconi's request, Egypt's President Husni Mubarak will also take part in the talks on the global economy. Representatives of international organizations are also invited to a working dinner. The climate debate, which has been dragging on lately, is finally to be relaunched in the so-called "Major Economies Forum" (MEF). This means that in addition to the G8 and G5, Australia, Indonesia and South Korea will also be present, and later the Danes will be added as hosts of the Copenhagen climate conference. A follow-up agreement to the Kyoto Protocol is to be negotiated there in December. On Friday in L'Aquila, the focus will be on food security for humankind and Africa. The MEF members, Egypt, Ethiopia, Algeria, Angola, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Senegal, Spain, Turkey and representatives of several international organizations will sit at the negotiating table. The head of state of Libya and current president of the African Union, Muammar al-Gaddafi, is also in Abruzzo with his government canopy. This could well be an advantage in the event of further earth tremors, German government officials jokingly said. If necessary, the summit could then take refuge in a tent, "perhaps that of Gaddafi".

In 2013, Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected pope. This has not changed his self-image as a priest. He still speaks directly to the individual – as he once did in the slums of Buenos Aires.

It began on 21. September 1953. For Jorge Mario Bergoglio, no day like any other. He should decide his future. Jorge wanted to celebrate the "Day of the Student" with his friends in Buenos Aires. But first he began the day with a visit to the church of San Jose. There he met a priest he had never seen before – an encounter that changed his life and which he still remembers years later.

Father Duarte impressed the nearly 17-year-old with the deep spirituality he radiated. So Jorge decided to go to confession with him. This confessional was different from all the others. It made him realize his spiritual vocation, Bergoglio later reported.

Confession changed lives

"Something strange happened to me in that confession. I don't know what it was, but it changed my life," he recalled more than half a century later. "It was the surprise, the intemperate astonishment of a real encounter. I realized that I was expected," he recounts in the interview volume "Pope Francis – My Life, My Path."

The planned meeting with friends, the Student Day celebration, all that no longer counted for Bergoglio. Instead, he returned home with the goal of becoming a priest. Bergoglio finishes school and training as a chemical technician and enters the Jesuit order in 1958.

Priestly ordination in Buenos Aires

On 13. December 1969, shortly before his 33. On his 70th birthday and 16 years after his vocation experience, Jorge Mario Bergoglio was consecrated in Buenos Aires. Being a priest means for him from the beginning to be close to God and close to the people. Even much later, as Archbishop of Buenos Aires, he goes regularly to the poor neighborhoods like a simple street priest.

It is again a 13. the month that changed his life for a long time: On 13. March 2013, Cardinal Bergoglio became the 265th pope at the age of 76. Successor of St. Peter elected. This did not change his view of the priesthood. He also lives it as Pope Francis: going to the margins, he advises Christians – and does it himself. 2019, the year of his 50th birthday. For example, on the occasion of his 50th anniversary as a priest, he was the first Catholic head of the church to visit the Arabian Peninsula.

"We clergy are in danger of succumbing to the temptation to be administrators rather than shepherds," he said even as a cardinal. A homily by Pope Francis on a 2019 priestly ordination sounds very similar: "Always have before your eyes the example of the Good Shepherd, who came not to be served but to serve, and to seek and save that which was lost," he gives the new priests along the way. Likewise, he emphasizes the importance of confession and is available as a confessor from time to time, even as pope.

Pope and priest

Francis is pope, but above all he is priest. This summer, he addressed a lengthy letter to all his "confreres in the priesthood" in which he also addresses the abuse crisis in the church under the heading of "pain. "Recently, we have been able to hear more clearly the often silent or silenced cry of our brothers and sisters who have been victims of abuse of power, conscience or sex by ordained ministers," it says.

He also repeatedly warns against abuse of power and clericalism elsewhere. At the same time, Francis gives advice on how to overcome crises of vocation. Thus, in his letter to priests, he advises them to remember and be grateful for their vocation, especially in difficult moments.

His own experience still seems very present to today's pope, as his vivid descriptions show. There are no details from the Vatican on how the 82-year-old will celebrate his golden jubilee as a priest. Perhaps, however, he remembers that 21. September, where his journey began. And very likely Francis will ask to pray for him – as he always did even as a priest.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply