Forgotten Truths
donate Books CDs HOME updates search contact

The People Have No Right
To Invade Private Property

In the United Sates we have seen the Occupy Movement take over public and private properties for a considerable amount of time. The movement left the scene but has not disappeared. It is waiting in the background for an opportunity to enter the stage again.

In South America, especially in Brazil, we know that the Landless Movement (Movimento dos Sem-Terra), duly supported by the government and inspired by the clergy linked to Liberation Theology, has long been promoting the invasion and takeover of large and medium private farms.

These actions are condemned by the Church, as expressed in the following excerpt by Leo XIII:


Pope Leo XIII

It is the foremost duty of governments to assure private property by means of wise laws. Especially today, when the ardor of unbridled greed is so strong, it is necessary that the people should remain within the line of duty. For, although justice gives them the right to strive to better their condition, neither justice nor the public good allows any individual to damage the land of another, nor to infringe on another's rights under any pretext whatsoever of equality.

Leo XIII, Encyclical Rerum novarum, of May 15, 1893,
Petrópolis, Vozes. pp. 27-28.)
Share

Blason de Charlemagne
Follow us



Posted April 9, 2016