The Church of England announced Monday it had withdrawn its investments in a controversial company over the weekend following a threat by a group of vicars to publish a letter denouncing the Church's investment, but denied there were any political or ethical consideration in what it called an economically informed decision.The Church of England said Monday that it withdrew £2.2 million ($3.3 million) from Caterpillar Inc. in late December 2008 because of economic considerations. Israel used bulldozers bought from the U.S.-based manufacturer of construction and mining equipment to demolish Palestinian homes.
| " The Church of England withdrew shares it held in the company for purely investment reasons " Steve Jenkins, Church of England spokesperson |
"We believe that given the events in Gaza as well as the continued illegal occupation of whole swathes of Palestinian land and the illegal land grabs by settlers, supported by the Israeli Government, that the Church of England must make good on its policy of disinvestment and withdraw its investments from those who profit form the misery of millions of Palestinians immediately," the unpublished letter stated.
But the church denied it had withdrawn investment for political or ethical reasons and said the timing of the announcement was coincidental.
"The holding status was made public when (the Church was) asked," church spokesperson Steve Jenkins told AlArabiya.net. "The Church of England withdrew shares it held in Caterpillar for purely investment reasons."
He added that the Church sold its shares in Caterpillar late December "on investment grounds," explaining that the church's investment bodies is charged with making investment decisions and takes into account the recommendations of the ethical advisory group.