The Pope will visit Acerra on Saturday to address environmental injustice caused by mafia dumping of waste in Campania.
Vatican City: Pope Leo XIV on Saturday will visit Italy’s “Land of Fire”, where for decades the Mafia has illegally dumped and burned toxic waste, poisoning both the people and their land.
The head of the Roman Catholic Church will travel to Acerra, a town near Naples in the southern Italian region of Campania, where hazardous waste – often from the wealthier north – has long been burned or buried.
For decades, soil, groundwater and air have been contaminated with heavy metals, dioxins and asbestos.
Cancer rates among the region’s three million or so residents are higher than the national average and Leo is expected to denounce injustice as well as urge care for the environment.
In 2025, Europe’s top human rights court ruled that Italy had failed to protect residents, and gave the government two years to correct the situation.
The visit coincides with the 11th anniversary of the historic climate manifesto of Leo’s predecessor, Pope Francis.
The “Laudato Si” encyclical, which condemned mankind’s cruel exploitation of the environment, was lauded by experts for its scientific basis.
Leo is expected to arrive by helicopter shortly before 9:00 a.m. Saturday (0700 GMT) in Acerra, a city of about 60,000 residents.
The US-born Pope will deliver his first address in the cathedral to the clergy and families of victims of environmental pollution.
He will then meet and address parishioners from various cities in the region before departing for the Vatican in the afternoon.
Italy’s “Land of Fire”, also known as the “Triangle of Death”, has been serving as a dump and illegal incineration site since the late 1980s.
Instead of paying exorbitant sums to legally dispose of toxic waste, companies paid a fraction of the cost to the area’s Camorra mafia to dump everything from torn sheets of asbestos to car tires and industrial-strength glue containers.
Since 2013, several parliamentary investigations have found officials negligent and in some cases complicit.
They also highlighted health deterioration, including increased cases of cancer and fetal and neonatal malformations.
In 2018, the Senate said that dastardly criminality and political inaction had led to an ecological disaster.
Leo’s visit is part of a series of summer tours of Italy’s regions, including a stop on the Mediterranean island of Lampedusa in July.
