Methodology
How we score your investments
We look through every fund to the companies it owns and check each company against 17 areas of concern drawn from Catholic moral teaching. Here is exactly how.
Our foundations
Our screens follow the moral priorities of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Socially Responsible Investment Guidelines, informed by the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences' Mensuram Bonam. Life issues weigh most heavily. Every company also goes through our USCCB screen, which applies the bishops' 2021 guidelines as we read them; your report shows how much of your portfolio fails it, and how much it flags for shareholder engagement instead (see how). We do not claim the endorsement of the Church, the USCCB or any diocese; our categories and weights are our own application of that teaching, and we publish them in full.
Avoid harm, then seek good. ScreenMyMoney focuses on the first step Catholic investors are asked to take: knowing which companies they own and whether those companies' activities conflict with the faith.
What we screen
Seventeen categories in five pillars. Each category has a weight that reflects its moral gravity: 1.0 for the gravest concerns, and 1.5 for abortion, which counts more heavily than any other.
Sanctity of Life
Protecting human life from conception to natural death.
| Category | What we flag | Teaching | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abortion | Performs or facilitates abortion, makes or dispenses abortion-inducing drugs, funds abortion providers, or pays for employees to travel to obtain an abortion. | Catechism 2270–2275; USCCB Socially Responsible Investment Guidelines (2021), Policies I.1–I.2. | 1.5 |
| Contraception | Manufactures contraceptive drugs or devices, including emergency contraception, or earns revenue from selling them. | Catechism 2370; Humanae Vitae 14; USCCB Socially Responsible Investment Guidelines (2021), Policy II.11. | 0.8 |
| Embryo & fetal research | Destroys or uses human embryos in research or products (embryonic stem cells, cloning), or uses cell lines derived from aborted children in its products. | Catechism 2274–2275; Dignitas Personae 31–35; USCCB Socially Responsible Investment Guidelines (2021), Policies I.4, I.5 and I.7. | 1.0 |
| IVF & assisted reproduction | Provides, funds or supplies in vitro fertilization and related assisted-reproduction services. | Catechism 2376–2377; Donum Vitae; Dignitas Personae 14–16; USCCB Socially Responsible Investment Guidelines (2021), Policy I.3. | 0.6 |
Human Dignity & Family
Respect for the person, marriage, the family and the vulnerable.
| Category | What we flag | Teaching | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pornography | Produces, distributes or hosts sexually explicit material, or operates adult entertainment venues. | Catechism 2354; USCCB Socially Responsible Investment Guidelines (2021), Policy II.5. | 0.9 |
| Harmful entertainment | Produces or distributes film, television, games or online content with graphic sexual material, gratuitous violence or occult themes as a significant part of its offering. | Catechism 2493–2499, 2523–2525; USCCB Socially Responsible Investment Guidelines (2021), Policies II.6 and III.5. | 0.4 |
| Marriage & sexuality | Corporate advocacy, sponsorship, lobbying or philanthropy that promotes views of marriage, sexuality or gender contrary to Church teaching. | Catechism 1601–1605, 2333, 2357–2359; Dignitas Infinita 55–60; USCCB Socially Responsible Investment Guidelines (2021), Policy II.10. | 0.6 |
| Human rights & forced labor | Named on U.S. government forced-labor or military-end-user lists, credibly linked to forced or child labor in its supply chain, or operates for-profit prisons and detention centers. | Catechism 2414, 2434; Fratelli Tutti 24; USCCB Socially Responsible Investment Guidelines (2021), Policies II.1, II.7 and IV.3. | 0.8 |
Peace & Security
Reducing the production of weapons that threaten innocent life.
| Category | What we flag | Teaching | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nuclear & controversial weapons | Develops or produces nuclear, chemical or biological weapons, their key components or dedicated delivery systems, or anti-personnel landmines and cluster munitions. | Catechism 2314; Pope Francis on nuclear disarmament (2017); USCCB Socially Responsible Investment Guidelines (2021), Policy III.1. | 0.9 |
| Military weapons | Manufactures conventional weapons systems or derives significant revenue from military weapons contracts. | Catechism 2315–2316; USCCB Socially Responsible Investment Guidelines (2021), Policy III.2. | 0.4 |
| Civilian firearms | Manufactures or sells firearms and ammunition for the civilian market. | USCCB statements on reducing gun violence; USCCB Socially Responsible Investment Guidelines (2021), Policy III.1. | 0.4 |
Temperance
Avoiding businesses built on addiction and excess.
| Category | What we flag | Teaching | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gambling | Operates casinos, sports betting or lotteries, or makes gambling equipment and content. | Catechism 2413; USCCB Socially Responsible Investment Guidelines (2021), Policies III.3–III.4. | 0.5 |
| Alcohol | Produces alcoholic beverages or earns significant revenue from them. | Catechism 2290; USCCB Socially Responsible Investment Guidelines (2021), Policy III.4. | 0.3 |
| Tobacco & vaping | Manufactures tobacco or nicotine-vaping products or earns significant revenue from their sale. | Catechism 2290; USCCB Socially Responsible Investment Guidelines (2021), Policies III.3–III.4. | 0.4 |
| Recreational drugs | Produces or sells recreational cannabis or holds significant investments in cannabis producers. | Catechism 2291; USCCB Socially Responsible Investment Guidelines (2021), Policies III.3–III.4. | 0.4 |
Justice & Stewardship
Fair dealing with the poor and care for our common home.
| Category | What we flag | Teaching | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Predatory lending | Offers payday, pawn, rent-to-own or other high-cost consumer credit that exploits financially vulnerable borrowers. | Catechism 2269, 2409; USCCB Socially Responsible Investment Guidelines (2021), Policy IV.5. | 0.4 |
| Environmental harm | Mines thermal coal or is responsible for severe, well-documented pollution of land, air or water. | Catechism 2415–2418; Laudato Si’; USCCB Socially Responsible Investment Guidelines (2021), Policies V.2 and V.8. | 0.3 |
How directly a company is involved
Every finding records how close the company is to the activity. A company that makes an abortion drug is treated differently from one that donates to an advocacy group.
| Level | Meaning | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Core | Central business activity or direct participation. | 100 |
| Significant | Material involvement: production, distribution, funding or deliberate corporate policy. | 65 |
| Limited | Indirect or minor involvement, such as advocacy, a small revenue share or a remote link. | 35 |
How a company's score is calculated
For each area of concern we take the company's highest involvement level and multiply its points by the category weight. The gravest concern counts in full; every additional area adds a quarter of its points. The total, capped at 100, is subtracted from 100. A company with no findings scores 100.
Examples: a company that pays for employees' abortion travel (Significant, 65 × 1.5 = 97.5) scores 3; with any other concern on top, it scores 0. A company whose only tie is advocacy for abortion access (Limited, 35 × 1.5 = 52.5) scores 48. One that produces violent video games (Significant, 65 × 0.4 = 26) scores 74.
Funds and portfolios
- Look-through. Each fund is broken down into the companies it holds, using its published holdings list or its index methodology. A fund that tracks the same market as a fund whose list we have is approximated from that list (Vanguard's S&P 500 fund from the iShares S&P 500 fund's holdings, for example), and its score card says so.
- Score. A fund's or portfolio's score is the average of its companies' scores, weighted by how much of each it owns.
- Breadth. We also show the share of your money in companies with at least one concern, and the share in each category.
- Gravest first. Areas of concern are ranked by gravity: the share of your money involved, times how directly the companies are involved and the category's weight. Abortion leads wherever it appears, even when a milder concern touches more of your money.
- Coverage. Bonds, cash and assets that are not company stock are shown separately and never counted as aligned. Companies we have not researched yet, and funds whose holdings we do not have yet, are shown as "not yet screened" and left out of the score. Actively managed funds, such as the Growth Fund of America, are screened from the holdings they report to the SEC each quarter (Form N-PORT) once we load them. Why some investments are not screened.
Score bands
| Label | Score |
|---|---|
| Strong alignment | 90–100 |
| Good alignment | 75–89 |
| Moderate concerns | 60–74 |
| Significant concerns | 40–59 |
| Serious concerns | 0–39 |
The U.S. bishops' investment guidelines
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops sets Socially Responsible Investment Guidelines for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops for its own investments. These guidelines were approved by the full body of bishops in November 2021, and many dioceses and religious communities draw on them for their own policies. They set 40 policies in five areas. Nine say the USCCB will not invest, and six that it should avoid, or consider divesting from, companies that fall short. Most of the rest ask it to work for change as a shareholder, through dialogue with management, proxy votes and shareholder resolutions, and a few ask it to invest in companies that serve the common good.
Our USCCB screen applies the guidelines to every company, as we read them. A company that meets a "will not invest" policy is marked Fails USCCB screen. A company whose ties we read as calling for shareholder engagement instead, such as advocacy that pays for no abortion, is marked USCCB: engage. Your report shows how much of your portfolio is in each. The table lists every policy and what we do with it.
| Policy | What the bishops do | How ScreenMyMoney applies it |
|---|---|---|
| I. Protecting human life | ||
| I.1Abortion, euthanasia and assisted suicide | Will not investNo investment in companies that directly participate in or support abortion, euthanasia or assisted suicide: companies that perform abortions or facilitate euthanasia or assisted suicide, or make products made or marketed for those purposes, including abortifacients. | Fails the screen Direct participation: performing abortions, or making, selling or dispensing abortion drugs and abortifacients. Material support: paying for employees’ abortion travel, or funding abortion providers or abortion funds (Significant or Core in our data). Euthanasia and assisted suicide are not yet in our data; we have not come across a listed company that provides them.Abortion |
| I.2Tangential connections to abortion, euthanasia or assisted suicide | EngageWhere a company has a tangential connection, engage it through dialogue, proxy votes and shareholder resolutions to end the connection. | Flagged for engagement The guidelines do not define a tangential connection. We treat as tangential support that pays for no abortion (public advocacy, lobbying, sponsorships and legal-fee pledges) and drugs used for abortion only off-label or whose effect is disputed. They still lower the score.Abortion |
| I.3In vitro fertilization | Will not investNo investment in companies that use IVF, whether to assist conception or in research. | Fails the screen Providing or funding IVF, or making drugs, lab media or embryo tests used in it, which we read as using IVF (Significant or Core). Smaller ties lower the score only.IVF & assisted reproduction |
| I.4Embryonic stem cell and fetal tissue research | Will not investNo investment in companies whose research on human embryos or fetuses ends prenatal life or uses tissue from abortions, or that develop products from such research. | Fails the screen Research or products using human embryonic stem cells or fetal tissue from abortions (Significant or Core).Embryo & fetal research |
| I.5Human cloning | Will not investNo investment in companies researching the cloning of human beings, or developing products from it. | Fails the screen Part of the same category as I.4. No company in our data clones humans.Embryo & fetal research |
| I.6Access to drugs and vaccines | EngageEncourage companies to make life-sustaining drugs and vaccines available at affordable prices, in the United States and in low-income countries. | Not scored We do not rate drug pricing or access programs. |
| I.7Drugs and vaccines without abortion-derived cell lines | EngagePress companies to develop life-sustaining drugs and vaccines that do not rely on cell lines procured from abortions. | Flagged for engagement Vaccines and drugs made with cell lines from past abortions (Limited). They lower the score without failing the screen.Embryo & fetal research |
| II. Promoting human dignity | ||
| II.1Human rights | EngageConsider divestingEngage companies on human rights and supply-chain transparency; consider divesting from companies that persistently violate their workers’ human rights, or that contract with companies or governments that persistently violate human rights, until they act. | Flagged for engagement Forced labor in supply chains, U.S. government forced-labor and military-company lists, and for-profit prisons. Since the guidelines say the USCCB will consider divesting, not that it will, we do not fail companies on it.Human rights & forced labor |
| II.2Wages and working conditions | EngageEncourage sufficient wages, decent working conditions and benefits that let workers and their families meet basic needs. | Not scored We do not rate wages or benefits. |
| II.3Discrimination | EngageEngage companies to adopt policies and practices that do not discriminate by sex, race, skin color, language or religion. | Being added The Racial & sex discrimination category is defined and switches on once our research team loads court and agency findings. |
| II.4Equal opportunity and diverse leadership | EngageInvest for goodEngage companies on equal opportunity, pay and leadership, including board seats, for women, people of color and people with disabilities; seek out companies owned by women and people of color. | Not scored We do not rate workforce or board diversity. |
| II.5Pornography and commercial sexual exploitation | Will not investEngageNo investment in a company whose sole purpose is sexually explicit films, videos, websites or services; encourage other companies to stop earning revenue from distributing them. | Fails the screen Companies whose main business is pornography, which we read as its sole purpose (Core). Platforms and distributors that earn revenue from it are flagged for engagement.Pornography |
| II.6Family-oriented media content | EngageAdvocate responsible, marriage-affirming and family-oriented content at media, technology and telecommunications companies. | Flagged for engagement Graphic sexual or violent content, and platforms accused of harming children.Harmful entertainment |
| II.7Human trafficking and forced labor | EngagePress companies to adopt codes of ethics against trafficking and forced labor, and to find and fix high-risk points in their supply chains. | Flagged for engagement Forced or child labor linked to a company’s supply chain.Human rights & forced labor |
| II.8–II.9Gender-transition procedures | Will not investEngageNo investment in companies that directly take part in surgeries, or in giving drugs or hormones, to delay normal puberty or to change the body to express an identity at odds with biological sex; press companies for more disclosure about these activities. | Being added The Gender-transition procedures category is defined and switches on once our research team loads findings on hospital, clinic and telehealth operators. |
| II.10Marriage, sexual integrity and family | EngageEncourage companies to advocate an understanding of marriage and sexuality consistent with Church teaching and natural law. | Flagged for engagement Corporate advocacy, sponsorships and benefits contrary to Church teaching on marriage and sexuality.Marriage & sexuality |
| II.11Contraceptives | Will not investNo investment in companies that make contraceptives, or that earn more than 10% of their revenue from selling them. | Fails the screen Making contraceptives at any scale, or more than 10% of revenue from selling them (Significant or Core). Smaller sales lower the score only.Contraception |
| III. Enhancing the common good | ||
| III.1Weapons inconsistent with Catholic teaching on war | Will not investNo investment in firms that earn any revenue from producing weapons inconsistent with Catholic teaching on war, such as biological and chemical weapons, landmines, nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction. | Fails the screen Producing these weapons, their key parts or dedicated delivery systems, or running their production sites, at any scale (Significant or Core). We do not count services to weapons programs, naval reactors or minority stakes as production; they are flagged for engagement.Nuclear & controversial weapons |
| III.1Firearms | Will not investNo investment in companies that make firearms, except those that make them only for hunting or for legitimate military or law-enforcement use. | Fails the screen Firearm makers other than those that make them only for hunting or for the military or police (Core). Ammunition makers are flagged for engagement; retailers lower the score only.Civilian firearms |
| III.2Limiting weapons production | EngageEngage companies to limit weapons production and foreign arms sales and to convert to civilian work; press companies linked to warfare, such as technology firms and banks, to uphold human rights; seek disclosure of weapons production and sales. | Flagged for engagement Makers of conventional weapons and their parts, which the 2021 guidelines do not exclude.Military weapons |
| III.3Gambling, tobacco and recreational cannabis | Will not investNo investment in companies whose primary purpose is earning revenue from gambling, from producing tobacco or from recreational cannabis. | Fails the screen Companies whose main business it is, which we read as their primary purpose (Core): casino and betting operators, gambling-machine makers, tobacco producers, and cannabis growers and sellers. Smaller ties are flagged for engagement under III.4.Gambling · Tobacco & vaping · Recreational drugs |
| III.4Addictive and harmful products | EngageEncourage companies to move away from producing, marketing or distributing addictive or other harmful materials. | Flagged for engagement Alcohol producers, as we read this policy, and companies with smaller ties to gambling, tobacco or cannabis.Alcohol · Gambling · Tobacco & vaping · Recreational drugs |
| III.5Media and telecommunications | EngageShould avoidEncourage media, telecom and social-media companies to adopt and enforce guidelines that respect human dignity; avoid media companies that resist adopting a human-rights policy consistent with Church teaching. | Flagged for engagement Partly covered: harmful content and harms to children are flagged for engagement. We do not yet track companies’ human-rights policies.Harmful entertainment |
| IV. Pursuing economic justice | ||
| IV.1–IV.2Social and environmental responsibility | EngageEncourage companies to report on social and environmental as well as financial performance, and to adopt responsibility guidelines. | Not scored We do not rate corporate reporting. |
| IV.3–IV.4Labor standards | EngageEngage companies on decent working conditions, just wages and benefits, the right to organize, protecting children, worker safety, and migrant and seasonal workers. | Flagged for engagement Partly covered: forced and child labor in supply chains are flagged for engagement. We do not rate wages or safety.Human rights & forced labor |
| IV.5Ethical banking and predatory lending | EngageEncourage responsible banking that guards against discrimination and excessive rates and fees and serves the underbanked, including at companies with 10% or more of revenue from predatory lending. | Flagged for engagement Payday, pawn, rent-to-own and other high-cost lenders.Predatory lending |
| IV.6Fair credit and affordable housing | EngageSupport fair credit, low-income housing finance and capital for communities of color; encourage real-estate companies to build and preserve affordable housing. | Not scored We do not rate lending or housing practices. |
| IV.7–IV.8Impact and community investing | Invest for goodSeek investments that aim at the common good as well as a financial return, such as community development and companies that strengthen their communities. | Not a screen These policies are about choosing what to invest in. |
| V. Saving our global common home | ||
| V.1Investing in line with the Paris Agreement | Invest for goodInvest in companies whose business models are consistent with the Paris Agreement’s emission-reduction goals. | Not a screen About choosing what to invest in. |
| V.2Climate change | EngageConsider divestingEncourage emission-reduction goals and low-carbon planning; consider divesting from companies that consistently fail to work toward the Paris goals. | Flagged for engagement Thermal coal miners.Environmental harm |
| V.3–V.4Biodiversity | EngageShould avoidEncourage high standards for protecting ecosystems; avoid companies that caused biodiversity loss and have not remedied it. | Not scored We do not yet track biodiversity loss. |
| V.5–V.6Water and natural resources | Should avoidEngageAvoid companies that deplete or degrade water without mitigating it, and extractive companies that do not follow the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative’s principles; encourage saving water. | Flagged for engagement Partly covered: severe water pollution is flagged for engagement. We do not yet track water use or transparency in extractive industries.Environmental harm |
| V.7Technology | EngageEncourage technology companies to protect human dignity and the environment and to use energy responsibly. | Not scored Technology platforms appear under II.6 and II.10. |
| V.8–V.9Environmental impact | EngageShould avoidEncourage the highest environmental standards and remediation of pollution; avoid companies that breach the UN Global Compact’s environmental principles. | Flagged for engagement Severe, well-documented pollution, such as “forever chemical” contamination.Environmental harm |
How we read the guidelines
- This is our reading, not the bishops' verdict. The USCCB does not rate companies, and the guidelines themselves say it does not endorse the services or products of any financial advisor or investment firm, ScreenMyMoney and Magnificat included. Where the text leaves room for judgment, the table says what we count.
- Material support of abortion fails; support that pays for no abortion is flagged. Policy I.1 excludes any company whose activities include "direct participation in or support of abortion". We count performing abortions and making, selling or dispensing abortion drugs and abortifacients as direct participation. Paying for employees to travel for an abortion, or funding abortion providers or abortion funds, pays for abortions: that is material support, so it fails too. Policy I.2 has the USCCB engage rather than divest where there is "some tangential connection", a term it does not define; we treat advocacy, lobbying, sponsorships and legal-fee pledges that way, and they still lower a company's score.
- Thresholds: the guidelines' where they set one, our reading where they don't. The guidelines set them for contraceptives (any manufacturing, or more than 10% of revenue from sales), pornography (a company's sole purpose), gambling, tobacco and recreational cannabis (a company's primary purpose) and weapons of mass destruction (any revenue from producing them). We take "sole" and "primary purpose" to mean a company's main business (Core). Where a policy sets no threshold, as for IVF and embryo research, we count Significant or Core involvement, applying the prudence the guidelines call for, and let more remote ties lower the score only.
- "Should avoid" and "consider divesting" are flagged, not failed. Four policies say the USCCB should avoid certain companies, such as media companies that resist a human-rights policy (III.5) or companies that breach the UN Global Compact's environmental principles (V.9); two say it will consider divesting (II.1, V.2). These are weaker than "will not invest" and our data covers them only in part, so flagging them for engagement rather than failing them is our choice.
- Engagement is how the guidelines handle mixed investments. For companies below a policy's threshold, they tolerate a minimal position as long as the USCCB engages actively and there is a reasonable hope of change.
- Other weapons makers are for engagement. The 2003 edition avoided firms primarily engaged in military weapons production. The 2021 guidelines exclude weapons inconsistent with Catholic teaching on war, such as nuclear weapons, and firearm makers other than those making them only for hunting or for the military or police; they ask the USCCB to press other weapons makers to limit production and foreign sales.
- Failing the screen is not an instruction to sell. The guidelines ask that divesting be done prudently, with care to limit the financial impact. Talk with an advisor before you act.
- The screen follows the guidelines, not our weights. Category weights shape the score; switching a category off removes it from both.
- Gender-transition procedures are being added. Policy II.8 is a “will not invest” policy new in 2021. The category is defined and switches on once our research team has loaded findings on hospital, clinic and telehealth operators.
- Discrimination findings are being added. Policies II.3 and II.4 call for engagement. The category is defined and switches on once our research team has loaded court and agency findings.
Owning a company directly, or through a fund
Catholic moral theology weighs not only what a company does, but how closely we cooperate with it. The bishops' guidelines base decisions to divest on "the principle of cooperation and the avoidance of scandal." Two distinctions shape how we report results.
- Material and immaterial support. A company that pays for abortions or abortion travel gives material support to a grave evil; a statement or a sponsorship does not. That is why the first fails our screen and the second is flagged.
- Direct and through a fund. Buying a company's shares yourself is a choice of that company. Owning a broad fund that holds it among hundreds of others is more remote: you chose the fund, not each company in it. Your report shows the two separately.
- Remote is not the same as none. Funds and portfolios that screen these companies out exist, and moving to one is a practical step. Knowing where your money sits lets you decide what to change first.
- The decision is yours. ScreenMyMoney informs your conscience; it does not decide for you. Weigh what you find, discern, and talk with an advisor before you act.
Your score goes further than the screen. It counts every finding, including the ties we flag for engagement, so a company can pass the USCCB screen and still score low. Some Catholic investors avoid those ties too; your score shows them.
A screen cannot vote shares or file shareholder resolutions. ScreenMyMoney covers the first step: knowing what you own.
Where the data comes from
Findings come from the original documents: companies' own statements, filings and product pages; FDA drug labels and other regulators' records; U.S. government lists (for example forced-labor and military-company lists); court filings, such as corporate briefs to the Supreme Court; nonprofit research, such as Don't Bank on the Bomb and SIPRI's list of arms producers; and fund holdings disclosures. Each finding in a full report lists every source we cite, linked where possible, with the date of the source itself, so you can judge whether it is still current; where a page shows no date, we show the day we checked it. We do not copy other screeners' ratings. Our research team reviews findings, and the data set is refreshed on a regular schedule. Data in this edition is current as of 2026-10-30.
Most companies we cover are researched across every area of concern. A few were added because a specific source named them, such as a court brief or a list of weapons producers; their score cards say they were researched for specific issues only.
Think we got something wrong? We correct errors promptly. Contact us at 240-792-8180 · info@magnificatam.com or through Magnificat Asset Management.
Limitations
- No data set is complete. A company with no findings may still have involvement we have not identified.
- Corporate policies change. Findings reflect the information available as of the date shown.
- Fund holdings change. We use the most recent holdings available to us, which may lag the fund's current portfolio.
- Moral judgments involve prudence. Reasonable Catholics may weigh some categories differently.