Standing with the Vulnerable: Catholic Accompaniment of Mining-Affected Communities
Author: Caesar A. Montevecchio, Séverine Deneulin, Gerard Powers
Year: 2026
As global mineral extraction increases, so do the many harmful impacts of mining. It often disrupts ecosystem balance, endangers social cohesion, foments violence, undermines health, worsens inequality, and fails to regard social and intergenerational justice. Catholic Social Teaching critiques the economic development paradigm that underpins the mining industry and leads to many of those challenges. The Catholic Church is frequently at the forefront of accompanying mining affected communities as they cope with these impacts, but its capacity for positive change is often unrealized. This policy brief focuses on four ways that Catholic leaders can ensure more effective engagement: