The Archdiocese of Baltimore has announced that it will divest itself of all its holdings in companies that do business with South Africa.
The action would be the first such step by a Roman Catholic diocese in the United States.
An official of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops said yesterday that the move by the Baltimore diocese could influence the bishops when they meet next month to consider a similar nationwide proposal on divestment.
Until now, the strongest action on divestment by a Catholic diocese had been taken by the Milwaukee Archdiocese, according to Robert Wonderly, a spokesman for the bishop's group. The Milwaukee archdiocese had announced that it would divest itself of holdings from any companies that did not abide in South Africa by the so-called Sullivan principles, which set guidelines of corporate behavior, including desegregation in the workplace and equal pay for employees. The guidelines were devised by the Rev. Leon Sullivan of Philadelphia, a Baptist minister.
The Baltimore action was taken by Archbishop William D. Borders.
Religious organizations and local governments have been taking increasing steps to penalize the Pretoria Government. Several Protestant and Jewish groups have announced divestment moves in recent months, and this week the California Senate passed legislation that would require the sale of $11 billion of securities in companies that do business with South Africa.
The Baltimore move is on a much smaller scale, according to Auxiliary Bishop John H. Ricard of Baltimore.
The stocks involved represent pension funds and other investments in five companies that are among those listed for sanction by the Interfaith Center for Corporate Responsibility, an affiliate of the National Council of Churches. The five are General Motors, Chevron, Burrows, Texaco and I.B.M.
Bishop Ricard said no dollar amount had been put on the portfolio sale. The divestment is expected to be completed before the end of 1987.
The Baltimore Archdiocese, which includes 436,000 Catholics in Baltimore and central Maryland, has been particularly active on South Africa. Hanging on the outside walls of more than 50 of its Catholic churches are brightly colored banners that proclaim, ''Free South Africa, End Apartheid.'' Churches have also adopted ''twin parishes'' in South Africa to which the Baltimore churches send relief services.
The Rev. J. Bryan Hehir, secretary of the bishops' department of social development and world peace, said the Baltimore action would be weighed seriously at the meeting. ''Clearly what an individual diocese does is part of the mix, but not necessarily the determining factor,'' he said.
Until recently, Catholic institutions have been more cautious than Protestant and Jewish organizations in taking punitive action against South Africa. The Catholics' stand has been influenced by the South African Bishops' Conference, which only recently endorsed sanctions.
Among the Protestant denominations that have voted for divestment are the the United Church of Christ, the United Methodist Church, the Episcopal Church, the Unitarian Universalist Association and the Reform Church in America. In some instances, the divestment did not cover pension funds, which are governed by more stringent investment rules.
Among the Jewish bodies that have voted for divestment have been the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, a Reform temple group; the National Council of Jewish Women, and the Jewish Federation Council of Greater Los Angeles.