ACERRA, Italy — Pope Leo denounced companies and groups that pursue “dizzying” profits at the expense of environmental safety during a visit Saturday to Acerra, an Italian area long associated with illegal toxic waste dumping.
The pontiff traveled to Acerra, about 220 kilometers south of Rome, and appealed for stronger environmental responsibility, urging communities and institutions to reject “temptations of power and enrichment” connected to practices that damage land, water, air, and social well-being.
Pope Leo said he chose to visit the area near Naples, widely known as the “Land of Fires,” to “gather the tears” of families who have lost loved ones to illnesses believed to be linked to toxic waste exposure.
The visit drew crowds waving Vatican flags and wearing yellow hats as the pope arrived in the popemobile. Some attendees carried photographs of relatives who had died, highlighting the emotional toll of decades of environmental neglect.
During his four-hour stay, Pope Leo criticized what he described as prolonged impunity for those responsible for environmental harm.
“Unscrupulous people and organizations have been allowed to act with impunity for too long,” he said, also condemning “the dizzying profits of a few, blind to the needs of people, their work and their future.”
He also met privately with victims and affected families.
Southern Italy’s waste management sector has for years faced allegations of corruption and criminal involvement. Waste collection, treatment, and disposal were historically controlled by a small network of private operators, with some contracts allegedly linked to the Camorra, a mafia organization based around Naples.
The European Court of Human Rights ruled in January 2025 that Italian authorities had repeatedly failed to prevent illegal dumping in the region, an area also referred to as the “Triangle of Death” because of unusually high cancer rates among residents. The court ordered the Italian government to establish a comprehensive database of toxic waste sites and improve public communication on health and environmental risks within two years.
In response, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni appointed an Italian general in February 2025 to lead a task force focused on environmental rehabilitation and assistance for affected communities.
Pope Leo’s Acerra visit comes as he adopts a more outspoken public stance on social and environmental issues. The leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics is expected to release his first encyclical on Monday, a major Church document anticipated to address artificial intelligence, its use in warfare, and its implications for labor and workers’ rights.
Edgardo Hernal started college at UP Diliman and received his BA in Economics from San Sebastian College, Manila, and Masters in Information Systems Management from Keller Graduate School of Management of DeVry University in Oak Brook, IL. He has 25 years of copy editing and management experience at Thomson West, a subsidiary of Thomson Reuters.
- EDGARDO HERNAL
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