Acerra, Italy. Pope Leo on Saturday denounced companies that seek “dizzying” profits at the cost of environmental pollution during a visit to an area in Italy known for illegal dumping of toxic waste. He urged people to reject “temptations of power and enrichment linked to practices that pollute the land, water, air, and social coexistence.”
Visit to Acerra
Leo visited Acerra, about 220 km south of Rome, in the area near Naples known as the “Land of Fires.” He said he wanted to come there to “gather the tears” of families who had lost loved ones to related illnesses.
Arriving by popemobile in an outside square on a sunny spring day, Leo was greeted by people waving small yellow and white Vatican flags and wearing yellow hats. Some held posterboards with pictures of family members who had died.
During his four-hour visit, Leo said “unscrupulous people and organizations have been allowed to act with impunity for too long.” He also referred to “the dizzying profits of a few, blind to the needs of people, their work and their future.” He met with victims.
Waste dumping and legal action
For years, collection, treatment and disposal of garbage in southern Italy was largely in the hands of a small group of private owners, with contracts sometimes tied to the Camorra, a mafia group based around Naples.
In January 2025, the European Court of Human Rights found that Italian authorities had repeatedly failed to act to stop illegal dumping in a region also known as the “Triangle of Death,” because of abnormally high rates of cancer among local residents. Last year, the court ruled that authorities had failed to protect residents from waste dumping since at least 1988.
The court gave the Italian government two years to establish a comprehensive database of toxic waste sites and communicate the risks to the public.
Government response and upcoming text
In February 2025, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni appointed an Italian general to head a task force aimed at helping victims and pursuing environmental clean-up.
Leo is expected to issue his first encyclical, a major text, on Monday to the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics. It is expected to address the rise of AI, how the technology is being used in warfare, and its impact on workers’ rights.
How should authorities respond to illegal dumping and environmental harm?