US Nuns Trouble Companies with Investment Activism

In the American state of Kansas, a group of religious women have been calling on large companies to change the way they do business.

The women are Catholic Benedictine religious workers called nuns. They live together in a monastery called Mount Saint Scholastica. The nuns, who call themselves sisters, pray and chant three times a day in their small church. Members of the Benedictine Order have followed this way of life for about 1,500 years.

But the sisters also put their money into investments in several companies. This gives them the right to propose changes to company policies at regular shareholder meetings that involve important decisions.

For example, the women asked oil company Chevron to consider more carefully its human rights policies. They asked Amazon to publish how much money the company spends trying to influence government officials. And they proposed that several manufacturers of medical drugs reconsider ownership rights called patents that, they said, increase drug prices. Patents legally protect a company's right to manufacture and sell a product that it developed or owns for a limited time.

“Some of these companies, they just really hate us,” said Sister Barbara McCracken. She leads the nuns' corporate responsibility program. She added that, because they are a small group of women, the large companies might consider them like an unwanted insect.

Until the 1990s, the nuns had few investments. That changed as they began to invest money to care for older sisters as the community aged.

They invest what little money they have in corporations that meet their religious ideals. But they also invest in some that do not meet their ideal. So, they push those companies to change policies they consider harmful.

Sister Rose Marie Stallbaumer supervised the community's finances for years. She said it was important that the group “invested in a responsible way.” She added that they wanted to make sure their investments did not bring harm to others.

The sisters at St. Scholastica and other Benedictine groups work closely with the Interfaith Center for Corporate Responsibility (ICCR). The ICCR is an organization based in New York City that involves religious groups in organizing to push companies to change their policies.

Tim Smith is a policy advisor for the center. He said the Benedictine nuns have been an important part of ICCR for years. He said that while it can take years to see companies change, the sisters “have the endurance of long-distance runners.”

Support for many of the changes the nuns seek has grown over the years. Early on, their resolutions received less than 10 percent support from shareholders. But in some cases, they have received 30 percent or even over 50 percent support.

Pushing companies to change comes naturally to McCracken. She has been a peace activist for many years. “There's not a protest she wouldn't go to,” said Sister Anne Shepard. She said McCracken's past involved anti-war, anti-racism, and union-supporting demonstrations.

McCracken entered the Benedictine community in 1961. She calls herself unusual for a person who lives in a monastery because she “hates to miss a party.” She and the other sisters follow the Benedictine rule to “pray and work.”

At the center of much of what they do is the belief that the wealthy have too much, the poor have too little, and more should be shared for the benefit of everyone.

“To me, it's a continuation of Catholic social teaching,” McCracken said of their activist investing.

Care for the environment has long been of central importance to Mount St. Scholastica members. Their college's graduates include Wangari Maathai, the Kenyan environmental activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner. Maathai died in 2011.

One of their top concerns is climate change. They use much of their 21 hectares of land for solar panels, community gardens and 18 beehives that produced about 360 kilograms of honey last year.

Their activism has often led to criticisms that they are too politically liberal. They recently received attention after they responded to statements made by Harrison Butker, a professional American football player. Butker had given a speech at nearby Benedictine College—cofounded by the Benedictine nuns. In the speech, he suggested that most of the women there would be more excited to be wives and mothers than anything else.

In a written statement, the sisters expressed concern with the idea “that being a homemaker is the highest calling for a woman.”

The nuns are not married and do not have children. Many of the sisters have doctoral degrees. Most have worked in professions. Members of their group include a doctor, a lawyer of Catholic Church law, and a professional violinist.

The sisters received angry phone calls after they released their statement. At the same time, the nuns are strong supporters of the team Butker plays for, the nearby Kansas City Chiefs. They often wear the team's red and gold colors to religious services on days when the team is playing.

Sister Mary Elizabeth Schweiger helped write the nuns' statement. “It came from a very basic understanding of who we are and the values that we hold true,” Schweiger said. “We just thought that voice had to be heard because we believe very much in being inclusive.”

Sister McCracken said that following their religious beliefs brings them into contact with political and economic issues. “It's just the nature of being an active citizen,” she said.

McCracken is nearly 85 years old and cannot be as active as she once was. But pushing companies to change gives her “a sit-down job when you can't go to the streets.”

The members of Mount St. Scholastica do not retire, not really.

“We don't use that word,” McCracken said. She added that if they still have the ability think clearly, “we just keep going, you know?”

I'm Jill Robbins. And I'm Andrew Smith.

Tiffany Stanley reported this story for the Associated Press. Andrew Smith adapted it for VOA Learning English.

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Words in This Story

monastery –n. a place were members of a religious order (usually monks) live

chant –n. words that are repeated, often as part of a religious ritual

corporate –adj. related to a business corporation or to actions taken as a group under organizing rules

ideal –n. an idea that people want to copy or embody

benefit –n. a good result from an action or decision

endurance –n. the ability to continue doing something for a long time

union –n. a labor group that supports workers' causes often in opposition to officials of the companies that employ the workers

doctoral degree –n. the highest degree offered by a university