Pope Leo visits Italy's ’Land of Fires’ as families seek justice for children lost to toxic waste

Key Takeaways

• Families living in a toxic-waste polluted area around Naples were preparing to meet Pope Leo XIV during his pastoral visit on Saturday (May 23, 2026), carrying with them years of grief, anger and hopes for justice after losing children to cancer linked to a multi-billion mafia racket of dumping toxic waste.
• The visit to the so-called Terra dei Fuochi, or Land of Fires, comes on the eve of the 11th anniversary of Pope Francis' big ecological encyclical Laudato Si (Praised Be), and indicates Pope Leo's interest in carrying on his predecessor's environmental agenda.
• The European Court of Human Rights last year validated a generation of residents' complaints that mafia dumping, burial and burning of toxic waste led to an increased rate of cancer and other ailments in the area of 90 municipalities around Caserta and Naples, encompassing a population of 2.9 million people.
• The court found Italian authorities had known since 1988 about the toxic pollution, blamed on the Camorra crime syndicate that controls waste disposal, but failed to take necessary steps to protect residents' lives.
• The binding ruling gave Italy two years to set up a database about the toxic waste and verified health risks associated with living there.