Catholic Bishops to Sell $5.3 Million in Stocks With South African Links

The U.S. Catholic Conference, national action arm of Roman Catholic bishops, said Thursday that it will rid itself of $5.3 million in investments in U.S. firms continuing to do business in South Africa.

The South African government has not attempted “to enter into serious and substantial negotiations with legitimate black leaders” nor made “significant progress toward dismantling the system of apartheid,” the bishops said.

The Catholic announcement came one day after the Rev. Leon Sullivan, creator of the Sullivan Principles, a code of conduct for U.S. business in South Africa, acknowledged the failure of the guidelines to significantly alter apartheid and called on all U.S. firms to end their ties with the white minority-ruled nation.

In a review of events in South Africa, a report to the bishops said that “the outcome of the recent ‘whites-only’ election and the new restrictive measures enacted by the government indicate that grave abuse of human rights continues and that the situation is likely to deteriorate even further.”

The report also recommends that 185 local bishops and Catholic institutions that have investments in U.S. firms doing business in South Africa consider divestment.