ACELA, Italy (AP) — Pope Leo XIV One by one, families who lost loved ones greeted them on Saturday. Illegal dumping of toxic substances near Naplestied to multi-billion criminal organizations run by the mafia.
Many people stopped to share photos and other memorabilia of children and young people who have died or are battling cancer due to pollution.
Leo’s visit to the so-called Terra dei Fuoci (Land of Fire) comes on the eve of the 11th anniversary of Pope Francis’s major environmental encyclical, Laudato Si (Praised), and signals Leo’s determination to continue his predecessor’s environmental policies.
“I have come first of all to collect the tears of those who have lost their lives and loved ones to the pollution of the environment by unscrupulous individuals and organizations that have been able to operate with impunity for far too long,” Leo told his family and local clergy inside the Cathedral of Asera.
Pope Leo XIV speaks during a meeting with clergy, religious and families of environmental pollution victims at the Basilica of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in Acella, near Naples, Italy, Saturday, May 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Pope Leo XIV speaks during a meeting with clergy, religious and families of environmental pollution victims at the Basilica of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in Acella, near Naples, Italy, Saturday, May 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
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The Pope recalled that the region now known as the “Land of Fire” was once called “Campania Felix” (Latin for blessed or fruitful countryside) and said it “could charm with fertility, produce and culture, like a hymn to life.”
“Yet here we have the death of land and people,” the Pope said.
Last year, the European Court of Human Rights justified claims by generations of residents that the mafia’s dumping, burying and incineration of toxic waste had led to increased rates of cancer and other diseases in the 90-municipal region surrounding Caserta and Naples, which includes a population of 2.9 million people.
The court found that Italian authorities had known since 1988 that: toxic pollutionheld accountable the Camorra criminal organization that controlled the waste disposal, but failed to take the necessary measures to protect the population. The binding ruling gave Italy two years to build a database on toxic waste and verified health risks associated with living there.
On Friday, May 22, 2026, the day before the visit of Pope Leo The area bears the scars of decades of pollution from illegal waste dumping and burning, much of it linked to organized crime groups. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
On Friday, May 22, 2026, the day before the visit of Pope Leo The area bears the scars of decades of pollution from illegal waste dumping and burning, much of it linked to organized crime groups. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
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Bishop says dumping continues.
Bishop Antonio di Dona estimated in his opening remarks that 150 young people have died in the city of about 58,000 people over the past 30 years, stressing that the number does not take into account adults or victims in other municipalities.
He pointed to reports of large amounts of toxic waste being dumped near Castella the previous day and called on the pope to admonish those who continue to pollute. Di Dona said Italian authorities have identified dozens more sites of human-caused contamination across the country, including leaching of PFAS permanent chemicals into groundwater near Venice’s Marghera port and Vicenza.
“I say to our brothers who have fallen into the trap of evil, who are caught up in the mirage of huge incomes: convert, change your ways, because what you are doing is not only a crime, but a sin that cries out to God for vengeance,” the bishop said.
The pope then greeted the heads of 90 communities affected by the toxic dump, and greeted thousands of people waving yellow flags and chanting “Papa Leone” along his route and in the central square.
A man offers a pizza with a portrait of Pope Leo XIV on it during a day-long pastoral visit in Acella, Italy, Saturday, May 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Salvatore Laporta)
A man offers a pizza with a portrait of Pope Leo XIV on it during a day-long pastoral visit in Acella, Italy, Saturday, May 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Salvatore Laporta)
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Families of young victims appeal to Pope
Among the victims was Maria Venturato, who died of cancer in 2016 at the age of 25. Her father, Angelo, said he wanted to speak to the pope to explain their reality “not for me… but for the next generation.”
“I want to give these young people a future, so I’m asking the Pope to help me with this. So I’m appealing to the Pope to go to the powers that be and say, ‘Look, let’s heal this land of fire,'” he said on the eve of the papal visit.
Inside the cathedral, Filomena Carolla presented the pope with a book containing memories of the life of her daughter Tina de Angelis, who died of cancer at the age of 24.
“I’m angry at the people who poisoned the soil, because what did our children have to do with the soil? What did they have to do with the soil when they were so young?” Corolla told The Associated Press on Friday.
Francisco was scheduled to visit the region in 2020, but it was canceled due to the pandemic.
