Pope Leo XIV visits Italy’s Land of Fires, backs families seeking justice

Pope Leo XIV on Saturday greeted families one by one in Acerra, near Naples, as parents and relatives held photographs and keepsakes of sons and daughters who died or are battling cancer linked to illegal toxic dumping. The encounter turned a pastoral visit into a public act of solidarity with families who have spent years pressing for accountability in Italy’s Terra dei Fuochi, or Land of Fires.

The Land of Fires stretches across 90 municipalities in Campania and is home to about 2.9 million people in the provinces of Naples and Caserta. Its name comes from a pattern of illegal dumping, burying, uncontrolled abandonment and burning of hazardous waste, often tied to organized criminal groups. That damage has long been more than an environmental stain: it has shaped daily life, public health and trust in the state.

On January 30, 2025, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Italy violated residents’ right to life by failing to respond diligently to the crisis, saying authorities had known about the problem for years. The case involved 41 Italian nationals and five Campania-based organizations. The ruling underscored what families in Acerra have argued for years: this is not only a tragedy of contamination, but a failure of governance.

The health evidence has only sharpened that argument. Italy’s top health authority confirmed in 2021 a link between high cancer rates and pollution in the area. A 2022 review in Heliyon said research over the previous two decades had found correlations between waste disposal and major increases in cancer incidence and mortality, while newer evidence pointed to a causal link between toxic exposure and patterns of illness and death in the Land of Fires. The Council of Europe said in 2026 that increased cancer rates and groundwater pollution had been recorded there.

Leo framed the visit in moral and civic terms, saying his presence was meant to encourage dignity and responsibility in a place where life is threatened by death. He also condemned companies seeking “dizzying” profits at the cost of environmental pollution. For families in Acerra, the pope’s attention gave their grief a global stage, but it also highlighted a more uncomfortable reality: in Terra dei Fuochi, justice has moved far more slowly than the harm.