Washington D.C., Oct 5, 2016 / 23:02 pm
On the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi this week, seven Catholic organizations on five continents announced they are divesting from fossil fuel companies in an effort to care for creation.
The announcement also fell on the last day of the Season of Creation, a Christian celebration and period of reflection on the state of the environment which began with the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation on Sept. 1.
The move is the largest joint faith-based divestment from fossil fuels to date. Earlier this year, four Catholic orders in Australia announced they were divesting of coal, oil and gas following the call of Pope Francis in his encyclical "Laudato Si: On Care for Our Common Home."
The initiative is also part of a larger, global movement to divest from fossil fuels, one of the largest such movements in history. Almost 600 institutions worth over $3.4 trillion globally have announced divestment commitments, according to gofossilfree.org.