On October 14th, aspiring businesses and NGOs gathered in a boardroom at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome, presenting their ideas to investors in a unique setting.

This was not your typical start-up pitch event, nor were the investors typical businessmen from the TV show Shark Tank. Instead, it was a Catholic Shark Tank, featuring start-up founders from Germany, Norway, France, Switzerland, and Croatia, all coming together to promote ventures rooted in Catholic values.

Valerie, an Austro-Italian entrepreneur, described the experience, saying, “Yeah, it was great. A great opportunity for us to present our company and find fellow Christians who might also invest and mentor us for the next step.” Another participant, Fran Orisol from Croatia, shared his project: “I'm pitching my startup, which deals with naturally more delicious snacks—a healthy alternative—wrapped in compostable packaging.”

Business with a Catholic Social Responsibility

This event wasn’t just about profit; it was about aligning business with Catholic Social Teaching.

Pope Francis has emphasized the importance of small businesses fulfilling their social responsibility by creating job opportunities and promoting ethical practices. The Catholic Shark Tank aimed to encourage this mission by blending free-market principles with Christian values.

Organized by the Acton Institute, a think tank promoting free-market principles in line with Christian virtues, the idea was spearheaded by Michael Severance, Acton Institute’s Rome office director. “We wanted to bring together in an encounter,” Severance explained, “as Pope Francis has always asked us to do, embracing his charism in a meeting. Here, we have entrepreneurs with their small and medium enterprises meet with large enterprises in terms of finance, seeking not only advice but actual real-time investment into their affairs.”

Morality and Ethics in Business: A Church Perspective

One of the event’s investors was Fr. Andrew Lesko, head of the Catholic Incubator, who shared insights on the Church's role in business. “Morality and ethics are a huge part of business. They are a very necessary part of business and, unfortunately, are lacking in today’s secular age,” noted Father Lesko. “Today, we are encouraging people to live out their vocation and to live out morality and ethics in all of their business endeavors."

Adapted by Jacob Stein 

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