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Rome — <\/span>The Vatican on Friday launched a campaign to encourage divestment from mining industries and said the Catholic Church should do the same invest this money<\/a> In ways that are consistent with its ecological teachings.<\/p>\n This effort, which also includes other Christian organizations, takes Pope Francis as its inspiration. 2015 environmental encyclopedia<\/a> \u201cPraise.\u201d The document and the ecological movement it inspired spoke out against multinational corporations that plunder the Earth’s natural resources, often at the expense of the poor and indigenous peoples.<\/p>\n The initiative is the brainchild of an existing worldwide network of Catholic and other Christian denominations, churches and mining networks, particularly active in Latin America.<\/p>\n The campaign aims to encourage local churches to review their investment strategies and divest where necessary, and to share information, particularly with indigenous groups, about the types of extraction taking place on their lands. <\/p>\n Yolanda Flores, leader of the Aymara people in Peru, tearfully described at a Vatican news conference how indigenous mothers fear they are poisoning their children because their drinking water has been polluted by extraction runoff. <\/p>\n “The big question is who finances this? Who provides the money to poison us?” He said.<\/p>\n Cardinal \u00c1lvaro Ramazzini of Guatemala recalled that when he was Bishop of San Marcos, the Guatemalan government gave permission to a Canadian mining firm to explore for and then extract silver and gold from the ground. He said, although the project provided short-term employment to the local population, the ultimate winners were the shareholders.<\/p>\n “Was it a legal activity? Yes. Was it an activity that promoted the overall development of those communities? No,” Ramzini said. “In the context of distributive justice: were mining operations fair? No.”<\/p>\n Cardinal Fabio Baggio, the number 2 in the Vatican’s ecumenical office, was asked whether the Vatican had invested in mining corporations in the past and was now reviewing its strategies. He said he did not know, but added that whenever such campaigns are carried out, it is important to “look at your own home also”.<\/p>\n