(Photo: UMNS / Kathy L. Gilber, File)Jim Winkler, top executive of the church's social action agency, speaks during a meeting of the Board of Church and Society in this undated file photo.
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The United Methodist Church announced this week that it had achieved “positive results” in its negotiations with large construction manufacturer Caterpillar Inc. to review use of its equipment and examine its ties to Israeli military forces.
The Protestant church body, which has a history of dedication to moral and social activism, notified the company that it would petition and divest its stock holdings in the corporation because of what it described as its profiteering in “illegal Israeli settlements.”
“Caterpillar equipment, fitted with armored plating, is used by Israeli Defense Forces to destroy Palestinian homes, orchards and olive groves in the Occupied Territories, and to clear Palestinian land for illegal Israeli settlements, segregated roads and the separation barrier,” UMC noted in a statement.
The denomination has about $5 million of its estimated $17 billion pension portfolio invested in Caterpillar stock, according to a press release on the UMC website.
Caterpillar’s response to The United Methodist Church, however, was deemed “positive” by the denomination, which subsequently announced that it would withdraw its petition of divestment.
In a statement, Caterpillar “affirmed the importance of continuing dialogue between Caterpillar and The United Methodist Church,” and announced that it would review its record concerning the use of its equipment.
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"Caterpillar's products are designed to improve quality of life. ... We do not condone the illegal or immoral use of any Caterpillar equipment. ... We expect our customers to use our products in environmentally responsible ways and consistent with human rights and the requirements of international humanitarian law,” the company expressed in a statement.
"We are committed to further conversations and possible philanthropic activities in Palestinian areas,” the company added.
The Rev. Tim Bias, senior pastor of First United Methodist Church of Peoria, Ill., where Caterpillar is based, spoke cheerfully of the new development, adding that his denomination plays an active role in helping to champion social justice.
"One of the values we hold as United Methodists is holy conferencing,” he said, according to UMC.
“If we are to bring transformation to the world, we will do it by building and gaining trust with persons of differing perspectives,” he added.
The Rev. W. Douglas Mills, executive of the United Methodist Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns, also commented on the important deal their denomination had helped broker.
"I am very pleased to see the statement from Caterpillar and to see the positive fruits of dialogue," he said.
"By engaging [Caterpillar chief executive] Jim Owen and Caterpillar in this way, [Jim] Winkler (top executive of the United Methodist Board of Church and Society) has helped us underscore the value our denomination places on our interreligious relationships coupled with our commitment to social justice,” he added.
The United Methodist Church, with almost 8 million members in the United States, is the nation’s second largest mainline Protestant church body after the Southern Baptist Convention.
