EWTN News portal reports on an “ecumenical” business conference held in Lakewood, Colorado, on April 8, 2026, where Catholic and Protestant leaders convened to discuss “ethical investing” under the banner of “the lordship of Christ.” The event, hosted by Innovest Portfolio Solutions alongside the Archdiocese of Denver, Catholic Benefits Association, and various Protestant entities, urged Christian institutions to engage in proxy voting and corporate engagement to advance “Christian values” in the financial sector. Speakers like Dustin DeVito of the 1792 Exchange and Nicholas Schmitz of The Catholic University of America emphasized the need for “faith-aligned capital” and “custom proxy options” to combat perceived biases against Christians, citing the decline of DEI and ESG initiatives as a positive development. This conference, far from being a genuine defense of Catholic social teaching, is a symptom of the post-conciliar Church’s capitulation to secularism, reducing the supernatural mission of the Church to a mere exercise in corporate activism and ecumenical syncretism, thereby betraying the true Kingship of Christ over all nations and souls.
The Ecumenical Abomination: A False Unity Against the One True Church
The very premise of this conference—an “ecumenical gathering” of Catholic and Protestant leaders—is a direct and unequivocal violation of Catholic doctrine. The Church has always taught, with the utmost clarity, that there is only one true religion, the Catholic Church, and that all other “Christian” denominations are, in reality, false sects. Pope Pius XI, in his encyclical Mortalium Animos (1928), explicitly condemned such gatherings, stating that “the union of Christians can only be promoted by promoting the return to the one true Church of Christ of those who are separated from it, for in the past they have unhappily left it.” This conference, by its very nature, implicitly and explicitly promotes the heretical notion that Protestantism is a valid path to salvation, a concept condemned by the Council of Trent and countless papal pronouncements. The participation of the Archdiocese of Denver and The Catholic University of America in this charade is a scandalous betrayal of their sacred duty, lending the veneer of Catholic legitimacy to a movement that fundamentally undermines the Church’s exclusive claim to truth. This is not “dialogue”; it is a surrender to the “pest of indifferentism” condemned by Pope Gregory XVI in Mirari Vos (1832), which asserts that “the best plan for achieving the salvation of souls is to grant liberty of conscience to all.”
Reduction of Christ’s Kingship to Corporate Activism
The conference’s focus on “ethical investing,” “proxy voting,” and “corporate engagement” as the primary means of asserting “the lordship of Christ” is a grotesque reduction of the Church’s supernatural mission. While the Church certainly has a role in guiding the faithful in moral financial practices, the emphasis here is not on the salvation of souls, the propagation of the faith, or the defense of the Church’s rights, but rather on influencing secular corporations. This approach reflects the post-conciliar Church’s embrace of the world, prioritizing temporal concerns over eternal ones. Pope Pius XI, in Quas Primas (1925), established the Feast of Christ the King precisely to combat the “secularism of our times, so-called laicism,” reminding all that “Christ reigns over the minds of men… in the wills of men… [and] in the hearts of men.” His kingdom, as the encyclical states, “is primarily spiritual and relates mainly to spiritual matters.” To reduce this spiritual kingship to shareholder votes and corporate policy is to strip it of its divine power and purpose, transforming the Church into a mere pressure group within a secular system. The true “lordship of Christ” demands the conversion of nations to the Catholic faith, the establishment of Catholic social order, and the subjection of all human laws to the divine law, not merely the “depoliticizing” of corporate America.
The Heresy of “Faith-Aligned Capital” and the Illusion of “Christian Values”
The concept of “faith-aligned capital” and “custom proxy options” as presented by speakers like Nicholas Schmitz and Dustin DeVito is a modernist heresy that substitutes a naturalistic, worldly agenda for the supernatural mission of the Church. While it is true that Catholic institutions should not invest in enterprises that directly contradict Catholic moral law, the idea that the Church’s primary engagement with the world should be through “proxy voting” and “corporate engagement” is a dangerous distraction. The Church’s mission is to teach, govern, and sanctify, not to manage portfolios or influence corporate governance. This approach implicitly accepts the legitimacy of the secular, capitalist system as the primary arena for Christian action, rather than challenging its very foundations. The “Christian values” promoted are often vague and susceptible to being co-opted by secular agendas, as seen in the conference’s praise for the decline of DEI and ESG initiatives. While these initiatives may indeed be problematic, the Church’s critique must be rooted in immutable moral principles, not in the shifting sands of political expediency or conservative cultural warfare. The true “Christian value” is the salvation of souls through the sacraments, the preaching of the Gospel, and the establishment of the social reign of Christ the King, not the pursuit of “ideological balance” in public corporations.
The Scandal of Post-Conciliar “Catholic” Institutions
The involvement of the Archdiocese of Denver, The Catholic University of America, and the Catholic Benefits Association in this ecumenical venture is a profound scandal. These institutions, by participating in an event that implicitly recognizes Protestantism as a valid Christian path, are complicit in the very errors that the pre-conciliar Church fought so fiercely to combat. The Catholic University of America, in particular, as a pontifical institution, has a sacred duty to uphold and defend Catholic doctrine without compromise. Its development of “proxy guidelines” that are accepted by “leading companies representing shareholders” is a betrayal of its academic and spiritual mission, reducing its role to that of a financial consultant for secular corporations. This is a clear example of the “laziness and timidity of the good” lamented by Pope Pius XI in Quas Primas, where those who should be “fighting bravely and always under the banner of Christ the King” instead seek accommodation with the world. The true Catholic university should be a bastion of orthodox theology and philosophy, forming future leaders to combat the errors of modernism, not a training ground for “faith-aligned” investment managers.
The Omission of True Catholic Social Teaching
Perhaps the most glaring omission in this conference is any reference to the true principles of Catholic social teaching as articulated by popes like Leo XIII, Pius XI, and St. Pius X. There is no mention of the necessity of the Catholic Church as the one true religion, the duty of Catholic states to recognize the kingship of Christ, the dangers of religious liberty, or the importance of the guild system and distributism as alternatives to both capitalism and socialism. Instead, the conference operates entirely within the framework of liberal democracy and free-market capitalism, seeking to make these systems more “Christian” through shareholder activism. This is a fundamental betrayal of the Church’s prophetic mission. Pope Leo XIII, in Immortale Dei (1885), clearly stated that “the Almighty, therefore, has given the charge of the human race to two powers, the ecclesiastical and the civil, the one being set over divine, and the other over human, each the highest in its own kind, and each fixed within definite limits, determined by its own nature and special object.” The conference’s focus on “corporate engagement” ignores this fundamental distinction, blurring the lines between the spiritual and temporal realms and reducing the Church’s role to that of a stakeholder in a secular enterprise. The true Catholic approach to the economy is not to reform capitalism from within, but to establish a social order based on justice and charity, where the rights of God and the Church are paramount.
Conclusion: A Call to Reject Modernist Compromises
This “ecumenical business conference” is not a sign of the Church’s vitality but a symptom of its deep-seated modernist disease. It represents the culmination of the post-conciliar revolution, where the Church has abandoned its supernatural mission to become a player in the secular world, compromising its doctrine and unity for the sake of temporal influence. The “lordship of Christ” cannot be asserted through proxy votes or corporate engagement; it can only be established through the conversion of souls to the Catholic faith, the defense of the Church’s rights, and the subjection of all human societies to the divine law. The faithful must reject these modernist compromises and return to the unchanging teachings of the pre-conciliar Church, recognizing that true peace and justice can only be found in the Kingdom of Christ, the Catholic Church. As Pope Pius XI declared, “the hope of lasting peace will not yet shine upon nations as long as individuals and states renounce and do not wish to recognize the reign of our Savior.” This conference, by its very existence, testifies to the tragic reality that many within the structures occupying the Vatican have chosen to renounce that reign, preferring the fleeting power of corporate influence to the eternal truth of the Gospel.
Source:
Investing with ‘the lordship of Christ’ in mind: Ecumenical business conference convenes in Denver (ewtnnews.com)
Date: 10.04.2026