When the Benedictine community of monks at Lanuvio, south of Rome, approached Banca Etica for financing to support their two agricultural cooperatives, the bank faced a dire situation: the cooperatives had borrowed heavily in the short term and now suffered acute cash shortages. They could not pay their suppliers.
Yet Banca Etica believed in the project's worth and the integrity of its leaders—and chose to take the risk. Credit, after all, means trust. But creating the conditions for such a loan required more than good intentions. The financial crisis was real.
Read also Città Futura—Another Success Story in Ethical Banking
In the first months of 2000, Banca Etica launched a deposit-certificate campaign earmarked for the Monks of Lanuvio. Within six months, the campaign had raised 500 million lire—concrete proof of the solidarity the project inspired and confirmation that the bank's faith had not been misplaced. From January onward, Banca Etica had committed 1.6 billion lire as medium- and long-term credit to the two cooperatives, plus another billion in short-term financing.
Today the Lanuvio monks' brand thrives in the marketplace, a mark of authentic organic produce.
"He's gone to heaven," we tell our children when someone dies.