Pope Leo XIV has formally confirmed his support for the Catholic Land Movement (Catholic Land Movement), a traditional-inspired apostolate that promotes the return of Catholic families to rural, self-sufficient life centered on faith. The recognition came through a letter sent from the Secretariat of State on November 18, 2025, in which the Holy Father expresses his appreciation for this initiative and extends to its members the apostolic blessing.
The missive, signed by Mons. Edgar Peña Parra, recalls that Leo XIV has received the letter sent by the movement's leaders and that the Pope values their “constant testimony of the Gospel through efforts dedicated to defending human dignity and the care of creation”. Likewise, the letter establishes an explicit historical link: the blessing granted by Pius XI in 1933 to the first Catholic agrarian associations is now recognized as inherited and continued by the Catholic Land Movement.
“Recalling the Apostolic Blessing granted by Pius XI in 1933 to the Catholic Land Associations, Pope Leo XIV extends that same blessing to the members of the Catholic Land Movement, who faithfully continue this apostolate in our time.”
— Letter from the Secretariat of State, November 18, 2025.
Papal recognition represents significant support for a movement that, although small, has resurged strongly among young Catholics and families seeking to rebuild prosperous rural communities, established on faith, work, and land ownership.
A movement born from the Catholic social tradition
Far from being an ecological movement in a green key, the Catholic Land Movement (CLM) sinks its roots in experiences from the early 20th century, when various European Catholic initiatives encouraged families to return to the countryside as a way to protect family life, preserve faith, and rebuild local economies damaged by industrialization. Its inspiration comes from the Church's social doctrine, especially the encyclical Rerum Novarum (1891), the magisterium of Pius XI, and Catholic agrarian movements that arose in response to rural poverty and community disintegration.
In its contemporary version, the CLM promotes: the return to rural life, family self-sufficiency, land ownership, honest work linked to farming, the defense of community life, and a spirituality centered on sacramental life.
Far from being a mere economic initiative, the movement insists that life on the land—lived with faith and Christian order—allows rebuilding strong homes, cohesive communities, and a way of life more in conformity with the Gospel.
The face of this apostolate
The current director of the movement, Michael Thomas of Sharon, has worked tirelessly on this cause, according to his collaborators. The message spread on social networks asks for prayers for him, emphasizing that this project depends on the constancy and fidelity of families committed to the ideal of a Catholicism rooted in everyday life and in the land