• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia
LeadershipVatican

Big companies join Vatican-affiliated council pledging inclusive capitalism

By
Fortune Staff
Fortune Staff
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Fortune Staff
Fortune Staff
Down Arrow Button Icon
December 8, 2020, 12:01 AM ET

Big Business is finding religion.

The CEOs of Bank of America, BP, Johnson & Johnson, Salesforce, and several other Fortune 500 companies are joining the Council for Inclusive Capitalism With the Vatican, a new business organization affiliated with the Catholic Church and operating under “the moral guidance of Pope Francis.” Fortune is a media partner to the council, which also includes policymakers and the general secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation, and which launched on Tuesday.

“An economic system that is fair, trustworthy, and capable of addressing the most profound challenges facing humanity and our planet is urgently needed,” Pope Francis said in a press release, adding that the companies and business leaders on the council “have taken up the challenge by seeking ways to make capitalism become a more inclusive instrument for integral human well-being.”

The council, which says its goal is “to build a fairer, more inclusive, and sustainable economic foundation for the world,” is the latest effort by Big Business to rethink capitalism and its effects on stakeholders, not just shareholders. “The dialogue has changed dramatically around these types of things,” Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan, one of the council’s “Guardian” leaders, tells Fortune.

“Capitalism is here to do the right thing, if it’s managed appropriately,” he adds. “We’re getting people to say, ‘This is not only the right thing to do, it’s morally the right thing to do and the human right thing to do.’”

The 28 companies and organizations that have joined the Council have made specific pledges to enact its four guiding principles: equality of opportunity for all people; equitable outcomes; fairness across generations; and fairness to those in society whose circumstances prevent them from full participation in the economy. Bank of America, for example, has pledged to disclose the greenhouse gas emissions it finances by 2023, and within the same time frame to hire and provide skills training to 10,000 people from low- and moderate-income neighborhoods. (Those commitments predate the council’s launch, but Moynihan says they are “informed by what inclusiveness means here as well as…from other groups we work with.”)

“Doing this is not simply a market imperative. It’s not simply chasing the ESG dollar,” Lynn Forester de Rothschild, founder of the council and managing partner of Inclusive Capital Partners, told Fortune in a separate interview Monday. “The capital markets are such a powerful force, that we need to remember that our actions, who we are and what we are, are based on morality and ethics. And so the Holy Father really asks us to put profits in service of planet and people.”

The council developed out of a global forum at the Vatican in 2016, organized by Fortune and Time, and a convocation of business leaders there to meet with Pope Francis.

“Our great challenge is to respond to global levels of injustice by promoting a local and even personal sense of responsibility so that no one is excluded from participating in society,” the Pope told attendees at that meeting. “I encourage you to…seek ever more creative ways to transform our institutions and economic structures so that they may be able to respond to the needs of our day and be in service of the human person, especially those marginalized and discarded.”

Four years later, de Rothschild acknowledges that the council’s current and prospective members still have a lot of work ahead. “At next year’s meeting, we will measure, we will self-report on how we have done toward our commitments,” she says.

She acknowledges that some companies “might decide they don’t want to try, and they might rotate off” the council, but she’s also keeping the faith. “What we’ve already established among ourselves is the Christian idea of redemption,” she says. “We’re going to fail. But that’s no reason for not trying.”

More must-read stories from Fortune:

  • Fortune Future 50: 2020’s companies with the best long-term growth potential
  • President-elect Joe Biden receives huge post-election favorability boost
  • Quantum computing is entering a new dimension
  • Why Mastercard isn’t a credit card company, according to its outgoing CEO Ajay Banga
  • Elon Musk’s rocket ride
About the Author
By Fortune Staff
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Leadership

three men in suits, one gesturing
AIBrainstorm AI
The fastest athletes in the world can botch a baton pass if trust isn’t there—and the same is true of AI, Blackbaud exec says
By Amanda GerutDecember 12, 2025
24 minutes ago
Brainstorm AI panel
AIBrainstorm AI
Creative workers won’t be replaced by AI—but their roles will change to become ‘directors’ managing AI agents, executives say
By Beatrice NolanDecember 12, 2025
44 minutes ago
Ryan Serhant lifts his arms at the premiere of Owning Manhattan, his Netflix show
Successrelationships
Ryan Serhant, a real-estate mogul who’s met over 100 billionaires, reveals his best networking advice: ‘Every room I go into, I use the two C’s’
By Dave SmithDecember 12, 2025
2 hours ago
Fei-Fei Li, the "Godmother of AI," says she values AI skills more than college degrees when hiring software engineers for her tech startup.
AITech
‘Godmother of AI’ says degrees are less important in hiring than ‘how quickly can you superpower yourself’ with new tools
By Nino PaoliDecember 12, 2025
3 hours ago
C-SuiteFortune 500 Power Moves
Fortune 500 Power Moves: Which executives gained and lost power this week
By Fortune EditorsDecember 12, 2025
3 hours ago
Apple CEO Tim Cook
SuccessBillionaires
Apple CEO Tim Cook out-earns the average American’s salary in just 7 hours—to put that into context, he could buy a new $439,000 home in just 2 days
By Emma BurleighDecember 12, 2025
3 hours ago

Most Popular

placeholder alt text
Success
At 18, doctors gave him three hours to live. He played video games from his hospital bed—and now, he’s built a $10 million-a-year video game studio
By Preston ForeDecember 10, 2025
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
Success
Palantir cofounder calls elite college undergrads a ‘loser generation’ as data reveals rise in students seeking support for disabilities, like ADHD
By Preston ForeDecember 11, 2025
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Economy
Tariffs are taxes and they were used to finance the federal government until the 1913 income tax. A top economist breaks it down
By Kent JonesDecember 12, 2025
9 hours ago
placeholder alt text
Investing
Baby boomers have now 'gobbled up' nearly one-third of America's wealth share, and they're leaving Gen Z and millennials behind
By Sasha RogelbergDecember 8, 2025
4 days ago
placeholder alt text
Economy
‘We have not seen this rosy picture’: ADP’s chief economist warns the real economy is pretty different from Wall Street’s bullish outlook
By Eleanor PringleDecember 11, 2025
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Uncategorized
Transforming customer support through intelligent AI operations
By Lauren ChomiukNovember 26, 2025
16 days ago
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • Future 50
  • World’s Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
Sections
  • Finance
  • Leadership
  • Success
  • Tech
  • Asia
  • Europe
  • Environment
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Health
  • Retail
  • Lifestyle
  • Politics
  • Newsletters
  • Magazine
  • Features
  • Commentary
  • Mpw
  • CEO Initiative
  • Conferences
  • Personal Finance
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
About Us
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map

© 2025 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.