Pope Francis told Italian farmers in 2015 that “there is no humanity without the cultivation of the land; there is no good life without the food it produces for the men and women of every continent. Agriculture thus demonstrates its central role.”

A growing number of Catholics around the world — especially Canadians and Americans — are adopting the pastoral ethos championed by the late pontiff by establishing chapters of the Catholic Land Movement (CLM) in their respective regions.

The trajectory has been striking. In early 2025, there were 30 CLM chapters in America and none in Canada. Now, there are over 80 in the U.S. and five in Canada. Notably, a CLM presence has been established around Port Perry, Ont., since the Register last provided coverage in April. And more are sprouting up in nations worldwide.

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From Aug. 28-30, approximately 700 Catholic homesteaders and agrarians contributing to this burgeoning movement will unite in a spirit of celebration and knowledge-sharing at the 2026 CLM National Conference in Greensburg, Indiana.

Michael Thomas, the upstate New York-based orchardist, shepherd, gardener and home builder who co-founded the modern CLM movement, cherishes this gathering as it provides an occasion to “expose the network to new ideas, or old ideas as it is, new relationships (and) new programs that we're developing.”

A particular venture set to be spotlighted during the conference is a 350-acre demonstration farm property in West Virginia that CLM is developing in partnership with Verax Patria, a Catholic nonprofit dedicated to fostering regenerative, faith-driven rural living communities.

Feisal Borjas, the 26-year-old who founded and leads the Kitchener CLM, said this event is a “great rallying point to make people even more excited and eager about what we're doing here with our chapters” in Canada. He also looks forward to being personally motivated by leaders and members who successfully transitioned to homestead living. It is what he desires for his wife, two young children and himself.

“I would love to meet other Catholics who share a similar vision for family life and learn about what their life is like,” said Borjas, a senior consultant of corporate strategy and enablement at Sun Life. “How did they organize themselves? How did they make the transition to the land if they have already? What more can we do in a suburban setting to move closer towards homesteading?”

The program for the conference features a variety of skill-building workshops on blacksmithing, gardening, cheese making, wood milling, cooking with tallow and lard, using pasture pigs for land regeneration and more.

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Borjas, whose chapter recently hosted a shepherding and cheese-making fellowship event, is particularly interested in attending a talk about forming parallel Catholic economies.

“It’s an idea I've been wanting to understand given that our Kitchener chapter has a large number of people who are in that suburban context and not yet in a position to be able to raise animals or form a larger garden,” said Borjas. “I've been trying to think through how we as Catholics can come together and support ourselves economically, whether we are in a suburban context or more rurally.”

There will also be two keynote speakers presenting at the conference. Jason Craig, a farmer in North Carolina and executive director of Fraternus, a brotherhood striving to “raise up men who, as fathers, will restore communities,” will join Dale Ahlquist, a co-founder of the American Chesterton Society. G.K, Chesterton, a prominent English Christian apologist in the early 20th century, avidly supported the original Catholic Land Movement that arose after Pope Leo XIII issued his 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum centring on the plight of the working class and the relationships between capital and labour and government and its citizens.

Ahlquist wants the agrarians and homesteaders to walk away with a specific message.

“I think the attendees will already realize that they are part of a growing movement, but I’d like them to understand it’s even bigger and more important than they might think it is,” stated Ahlquist in an email. “I want them to learn why Chesterton’s and (Hilaire) Belloc’s ideas about widespread property ownership are fundamental for changing the course of the whole world."

Chesterton and Belloc endorsed the economic philosophy of distributism, which rejects both large-scale capitalism and state socialism. It contends that the means of production should be widely distributed rather than tightly concentrated in the grasp of a few owners or government bureaucrats.  

In addition to the keynote presentations and workshops, attendees of the 2026 CLM Conference will also engage in faith and fellowship events. There will be a Divine Office with prayer events throughout the weekend, confessions available on Saturday morning and Mass.

More intriguing developments are on the horizon following the conference, said CLM co-founder Thomas. Thanks to donations from multiple philanthropists, the movement hired full-time staff to support regional leaders in developing their chapters. Continued bolstering of the CLM network is pivotal given the manifest fascination with this movement in Canada and the U.S. He teased what is in store for Canada.

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“There are more Canadian chapters on the horizon,” said Thomas. “We're developing a type of regional leadership for Canada as well that we hope will help facilitate the process more.”

Visit catholiclandmovement.info.