Pope meets families who lost children to toxic waste in Italy’s ‘Land of Fires’

Pastoral visit took in conversations with affected residents of polluted area around Naples seeking justice

Pope Leo XIV has greeted families who lost loved ones to illegal toxic dumping in an area near Naples, as many paused to share photographs and other mementos of children and young people who have died or are battling cancer – illnesses tied to a multi-billion criminal racket run by the mafia.

Leo’s visit to the so-called Terra dei Fuochi, or Land of Fires, came on the eve of the 11th anniversary of Pope Francis’ big ecological encyclical Laudato Si (Praised Be), and indicates Leo’s commitment to carry on his predecessor’s environmental agenda.