During a visit to the town of Acerra, near Naples, on May 23, 2026, Pope Leo XIV denounced the “impunity” enjoyed by criminals in Italy. From this area, severely polluted due to collusion between the mafia and public authorities, he expressed his hope to see the rise of “an army of peace” to clean up the land and combat “corruption” and “indifference” that “still kill.”
Although this was his second visit to Campania — following his anniversary trip to Pompeii and Naples on May 8 — Leo XIV became the first pope to set foot on the contaminated soil of the “Land of Fires” this May 23. This region of some three million inhabitants, with Acerra at its heart, has been polluted for 40 years by illegal dumping and the illegal incineration of tons of toxic waste, orchestrated by the local mafia — the Camorra.
The entire town of 65,000 residents awaited the Pontiff, with Vatican flags flying along the roads and banners hanging from balconies, strung between clotheslines. To greet the Pope, who arrived by helicopter around 8:45 a.m., the streetlights were adorned with banners bearing his image and quotes from the encyclical Laudato si’.
It is, in fact, the eve of the 11th anniversary of the signing of Pope Francis’ famous document on ecology. By coming to Acerra, Leo was fulfilling the Argentine pontiff’s wish, as his planned visit in 2020 never materialized due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The impunity of “unscrupulous organizations”
In the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta, the 267th pope first met with the clergy of the diocese and some 30 families who have lost children in the local health crisis. “I have come first and foremost to share in the tears of those who have lost loved ones due to the pollution caused by unscrupulous individuals and organizations, who for too long have been able to act with impunity,” declared Leo XIV.
Throughout his speech, the head of the Catholic Church denounced “a deadly mix of shadowy interests and indifference to the common good, which has poisoned the natural and social environment.”
“Crime, corruption, and indifference are still killing,” he remarked, lamenting “a culture of privilege, abuse, and impunity that has done too much harm to this land, as well as to many other regions of Italy and the world.”
Faced with this situation, Leo XIV noted that two attitudes were possible: indifference or responsibility. He then urged the local community to become “an army of peace that rises up and heals the wounds of this land.” And he invited them to reflect on “the way we live in our neighborhoods, on the willingness to work together among people and institutions, […] on honesty at work, on the equitable distribution of power and wealth.”
“Can these lands come back to life? You yourselves are the answer,” Leo XIV added. To the bereaved families, the Successor of Peter advised moving beyond “resentment” and practicing the justice they seek, noting that “change in the world always begins in the heart.”
The Pope also paid tribute to “those who responded to evil with good” and to the local Church “which dared to speak out.”
Pope Leo XIV then took the popemobile the two kilometers separating him from Piazza Calipari, where 12,000 people from all over the “Land of Fires” were waiting for him.
There, he lamented that the consumerist lifestyle “has cast a spell on us.” He warned against the temptation to settle for fatalism, resignation, and compromise, calling for civic and economic renewal.
In the large Piazza Calipari, where a giant podium had been erected, a crowd of 15,000 people had gathered as early as 6 a.m., wearing caps, waving flags, and sporting T-shirts in the colors of the Vatican.
“The Pope’s visit is an extremely important opportunity for our often-forgotten city, like all the peripheries of the world,” said Antonio, a resident of Acerra. He expressed his hope that this event would draw attention to the ecological problem, “which may be global, but which is felt much more acutely here.”
In the crowd, Luisa was among the protesters who have risen up in recent years to denounce the illegal incineration that has given the “Land of Fires” its grim name. Speaking of her “scarred” and “so sick” homeland, the 25-year-old bluntly condemned political inaction. “If there were a genuine will to clean up the area, decontamination would already be underway,” she lamented, expressing concern about the region’s cancer rates, which exceed the national average.
In the front row beneath the podium, the mayors of the 90 municipalities of the Terre des Feux were present. Before them, Pope Leo XIV urged the dismantling of “criminal alliances” and prioritizing the common good over partisan interests. Pointing out situations where “those with political and institutional responsibilities are too weak in the face of the powerful,” he called for “a genuine change in economic, civic, and even religious mentality.”
From this land that “has buried so many of its children,” the Pope encouraged a “surge of dignity and responsibility” among citizens. He praised the “good that exists and endures,” and welcomed the “widespread awareness of the gravity of evil and the indifference that has given way to crimes.” Earlier in the cathedral, he had met with families affected by pollution.
The consumerist model that “has bewitched us”
The Pontiff, who made this visit to mark the anniversary of the signing of the green encyclical Laudato si’ (May 24, 2015), recommended adopting a “less consumerist” system. And he added: “How much waste, how much squandering, how many poisons have come with a growth model that has, as it were, bewitched us, leaving us sicker and poorer.” He encouraged businesses to cultivate “a sense of limits, not one of irresponsible violation.”
According to the Bishop of Rome, this means letting go of “the habits and prejudices in which we have become entrenched.” He warned in this regard against the “subtle form of advantage” that can be found “in resignation, in compromise, in the postponement of necessary and courageous decisions.” He urged everyone to assume their “responsibilities,” arguing that “fatalism, lamentation, and blaming others are fertile ground for illegality and a cause of the desertification of consciences.”
Condemning “the hoarding of resources” and “technological development aimed at the staggering profits of a few,” he urged us to “fight exclusion, not the excluded; [to] break the entire chain, not just strike the last link.”
“Let us choose justice, let us serve life!” he urged the crowd.
In his speech, the Pope also emphasized education. “According to some, leaving a better world for our children has become a very lofty ambition. But the mission of leaving the world with better sons and daughters must not be,” he declared. For Leo XIV, this education knows no age and concerns young people as much as adults.
After mingling with the crowd for a while, greeting many people in wheelchairs, he departed in the popemobile to cheers. Leo XIV then boarded the helicopter to return to the Vatican.
