[Question:]{.underline} What do you think of Distributism?
[Answer:]{.underline} The principle of the Church’s social teachings on such economic issues is contained in the 1891 encyclical of Pope Leo XIII, Rerum novarum, and is called corporatism. It is the reducing of all responsibility in social and economic matters as much as possible to local corporations and guilds. Each guild cares for the good of the trade or profession, those who engage in it, and those who profit from its services, namely for the common good.
Decentralization is one aspect of this principle, and it is the total opposite of modern government, whose centralization is the necessary consequence of both socialism and disordered capitalism.
Distributism, as taught by Belloc, is a part of this effort. It is to distribute the means of production, for example, into smaller entities that promote personal responsibility, such as the family farm. Such a return to the land is not a bad thing.
However, it is not an end in itself, and experience has shown that it is not going to be the answer to the present crisis in the Church or in the world. The evil that we must fight against is not chiefly economic, but spiritual. It is the question of the very survival of the Church and the Faith that is at stake at the beginning of the 21st century. It is all very nice to discuss speculatively the advantages of a more leisurely, family-oriented life on the land. For most people it is becoming less and less possible. Furthermore, it could not possibly be an answer to the apostasy of society from God that St. Pius X complained about. It is only the teaching of the catechism, a life of prayer and penance, the regular reception of the sacraments, and all the supernatural means that are going to make any difference.
It is certainly true that Archbishop Lefebvre recommended a return to the land as a part of the Crusade for the restoration of Christendom and all things in Christ. But this recommendation for a simple, Faith-filled life was never at the expense of the regular, preferably daily, attendance at the Mass and the sacraments. Those persons err who move far away from a traditional parish, daily Mass, and the sacraments simply in order to return to the land. The end result is very likely to be a practical naturalism.
Likewise do I strongly regret the naturalism of John Sharpe, Derek Holland, and their friends associated with the ITP. By pretending to use a political, right wing, economic solution to the problems of the world, they end up by falling into naturalism, and betraying the Catholic cause. They justify themselves by giving it the name of Catholic Action, overlooking the fact that Catholic Action, as explained by St. Pius X and Pius XI, is a participation in the Church’s supernatural work for souls. It is not essentially political in the modern sense of the term at all. They will consequently produce little or no supernatural fruits, neither those of conversion of souls, nor the return of Catholics to Tradition, nor those of sanctity.
Answered by Father Peter Scott, SSPX.