Pope Leo XIV visited Italy’s ‘Land of Fires’ on Saturday, condemning decades of illegal toxic waste dumping by the mafia that has polluted land near Naples and contributed to unusually high cancer rates.
Hazardous waste—often transported from Italy’s industrial north—has long been burned or buried around Acerra, near Naples in the Campania region. Heavy metals, dioxins, and asbestos have contaminated soil, groundwater, and air in the area.
Pope Leo criticised “a deadly mix of obscure interests and indifference toward the common good” that he said had poisoned both the environment and society.
The pope’s visit coincided with the 11th anniversary of Laudato Si, Pope Francis’ environmental encyclical.
“This land has paid a heavy price,” Pope Leo said during a meeting with clergy and families affected by pollution. “It has seen many of its children buried.”
Italy’s ‘Land of Fires’—also known as the ‘Triangle of Death’—has been used as an illegal dumping and incineration site since the late 1980s, with companies paying the Camorra mafia to dispose of toxic waste cheaply.
