If you search for catholic mutual funds, the US market gives you exactly two dedicated families — sixteen funds in total — and the meaningful difference between them is not performance marketing but which Catholic screen each one actually applies. That is the criterion this ranking uses: how explicitly each family maps to the USCCB Socially Responsible Investment Guidelines, the framework the US bishops published and revised in November 2021.
How we rank catholic mutual funds
Three structural criteria, in order: screening framework (an explicit USCCB screen ranks above a proprietary Catholic screen, because it is independently checkable against a published text), adviser verification (the manager must be an active SEC-registered adviser — we check the CRD number against the IAPD registry), and filing transparency (every fund in our index is tracked on EDGAR, where its monthly holdings and prospectus updates are public record). No placement is paid, no performance is promised, and the grading logic is public on our methodology page. The USCCB does not endorse any fund — including these.
The Knights of Columbus family: the explicit USCCB screen
The nine Knights of Columbus Funds are series of the Advisors’ Inner Circle Fund III trust and cover the classic building blocks: Core Bond, Limited Duration, Large Cap Growth, Large Cap Value, Small Cap, International Equity, Real Estate, Long/Short Equity and a U.S. All Cap Index fund. Their manager, Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors (CRD 174129), states the funds invest in accordance with the USCCB guidelines — which is why this family ranks first on our alignment criterion: the rulebook it claims is a public document you can read.
The Ave Maria family: the largest dedicated Catholic lineup
The seven Ave Maria Mutual Funds — Value, Value Focused, Growth, Rising Dividend, Bond, World Equity and Growth Focused — are series of the Schwartz Investment Trust, managed by Schwartz Investment Counsel (CRD 104693). The family applies its own Catholic screening criteria rather than adopting the USCCB text, so it ranks second on alignment — not on quality, which this index does not grade. For a searcher who wants the broadest choice of Catholic-screened equity and bond sleeves under one family, this is the deeper lineup.
What about Catholic ETFs?
Mutual funds are only half the picture: one US-listed ETF screens to the USCCB framework and eight more apply an adjacent biblically-responsible screen. They are ranked separately in our catholic ETF guide, and every product — fund or ETF — has a fiche in the index with its adviser, trust, filings and framework on one page.
Research information only, not investment advice: verify every fact against the primary source linked on each fiche before acting.