The Bishops’ Conference’s Land Pastoral Commission (CPT) stated that while President Lula's administration has sent positive signals regarding land reform, concrete measures are lacking. Positive steps include reestablishing the Ministry of Rural Development and Family Farming and resuming dialogue with grassroots movements. The budget allocated to land reform and family farming through Pronaf remains low compared to the massive funding directed toward agribusiness. The government has shifted from a policy of land expropriation to one of 'negotiated acquisition' of land, which the CPT suggests benefits agribusiness more than peasant communities.
26 days ago
Brazil's Bishops’ Conference Land Pastoral Commission (CPT) assessed 2025 progress on agrarian reform under President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.1
They noted positive signals but criticized the lack of concrete measures.1
Lula reestablished the Ministry of Rural Development and Family Farming, closed under Jair Bolsonaro.1
The administration resumed dialogues with peasants, rural workers, and traditional communities, launching support programs.1
Family farming received R$89 billion via Pronaf, dwarfed by R$516.2 billion for agribusiness in the 2025/2026 Crop Plan.1
The shift to "negotiated acquisition" from expropriation is seen as aiding bankrupt agribusiness rather than peasant needs.1
Colonial land grants to nobles left vast areas abandoned or invaded by ranchers.1
Indigenous peoples, quilombolas, and poor farmers face expulsions, especially in the Amazon, amid ongoing deforestation for soy, maize, and cattle.1
At least 26 people, including rural workers, Indigenous activists, and quilombolas, were killed in 2025 land disputes.1
Plácido Junior, CPT coordinator, called land reform a constitutional structural necessity for economic transformation.1
Agribusiness models cause soil degradation, erosion, and heavy agrochemical use.1
Traditional communities offer agroecological solutions aligned with Pope Francis's environmental vision.1
Bishop José Ionilton de Oliveira praised progress over Bolsonaro but decried slowness due to a hostile Congress.1
He urged prioritizing land reform in upcoming general elections.1
Land reform priorities conflict with Catholic social justice principles
Catholic social teaching unequivocally affirms that equitable land reform, when pursued justly, aligns with—and indeed advances—core principles of social justice, such as the universal destination of goods, the right to private property subordinated to the common good, subsidiarity, and solidarity. Far from conflicting, properly structured land reform addresses structural injustices like hunger, latifundia (vast underutilized estates), and unequal access to productive resources, fulfilling the Church's call to ensure that "the world is given to all, and not only to the rich." This analysis draws on papal encyclicals, conciliar documents, and magisterial statements to demonstrate harmony between land reform priorities and these principles, while cautioning against reforms that violate human dignity or property rights.
At the heart of Catholic social doctrine is the principle that God created the earth for all humanity's benefit, with private property serving as a means to that end rather than an absolute end in itself. Pope Benedict XVI emphasizes in Caritas in Veritate that "the right to food, like the right to water, has an important place within the pursuit of the fundamental right to life," underscoring the moral imperative to address food insecurity through agrarian reforms that promote access to land for the poor. This echoes Pope Paul VI's address to the World Land Reform Conference, where he highlighted land tenure, redistribution, and limits on excessive ownership as vital for eradicating rural hunger and poverty.
The Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace's Towards a Better Distribution of Land explicitly condemns latifundia—large, idle estates—as "intrinsically illegitimate" because they hoard resources needed for production, depriving others of labor and self-sufficiency. Such holdings contradict the universal destination of goods, as "no one is justified in keeping for his exclusive use what he does not need, when others lack necessities." Instead, the Church endorses expropriation of underused land with "adequate compensation," reallocating it to landless families to maximize agricultural potential where populations depend on farming. The Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church reinforces this as a "moral obligation," especially in developing nations facing globalization's challenges, to counter land concentration and enable market participation.
In some countries a redistribution of land as part of sound policies of agrarian reform is indispensable, in order to overcome the obstacles that an unproductive system of latifundium—condemned by the Church's social doctrine—places on the path of genuine economic development.
This is not socialism but a defense of widespread private ownership: "the law... should favor ownership, and its policy should be to induce as many as possible of the people to become owners."
Critics might claim land reform prioritizes state intervention over property rights, but Church teaching insists on balance. Private ownership is "just and legitimate if it serves useful work," but becomes "illegitimate" when it impedes others' work through speculation or exploitation. Reforms must include juridical protections for titles, economic incentives for family farms, and tax policies ensuring intergenerational continuity. Pope John Paul II, addressing Brazil's president, urged "agrarian reform implemented in accordance with the laws in force," alongside equitable resource sharing to narrow rich-poor gaps.
Vincent McNabb, O.P., interprets this through St. Thomas Aquinas: excess goods "due, by natural law, to the purpose of succoring the poor," measuring needs by Christ's simplicity—Bethlehem, not Babylon. Thus, reform extends ownership to families, fostering dignity via productive work, as in Rerum Novarum's vision.
Land reform embodies subsidiarity—decisions at the most local level possible—and solidarity—the commitment to human unity. Pope Benedict XVI explains: "Solidarity refers to the virtue enabling the human family to share fully the treasure of material and spiritual goods, and subsidiarity is the coordination of society’s activities in a way that supports the internal life of the local communities." These prevent centralization while promoting the common good, defined as conditions for full human flourishing.
The Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales notes subsidiarity disperses authority "as close to the grass roots as good government allows," ordering society toward solidarity. In agrarian contexts, this means local involvement in infrastructure, irrigation, and markets, as Benedict XVI advocates for sustainable development respectful of the environment and the poor. Technology and innovation aid this, expressing humanity's dominion over creation per Genesis 2:15.
No inherent conflict arises; reforms fail only if they ignore subsidiarity (e.g., coercive collectivization) or solidarity (e.g., neglecting compensation). The Church's social teaching provides "consistent and complementary principles" for judging policies by their impact on dignity and the common good.
Where tensions appear—such as in debates over "priorities" favoring efficiency over equity—Church documents prioritize moral imperatives. Populorum Progressio demands urgent reform for fraternity, driven by "caritas Christi urget nos." Historical misuses, like landlordism fueling socialism, underscore reform's necessity to prevent extremes. Today, with climate challenges and inequality, reforms investing in rural poor align with eliminating "structural causes" of hunger.
In sum, land reform priorities do not conflict with Catholic social justice; they fulfill it when rooted in the universal destination of goods, respect for property, subsidiarity, and solidarity. The Church calls for courageous, equitable action: redistribute idle land justly, promote family farms, and build solidarity for the common good. This vision transforms economies, echoing Christ's command to "feed the hungry."