Sawt Falasteen - Pope visits Italy's 'Land of Fires'

The head of the Roman Catholic Church will travel to Acerra, a city near Naples in the southern Italian region of Campania, where hazardous waste -- often from the wealthy north -- has long been set alight or buried.

For decades, the soil, groundwater and air have been contaminated by heavy metals, dioxins and asbestos.

Cancer rates among the area's three million or so residents are higher than the national average and Leo is expected to decry the injustice as well as urge care for the environment.

In 2025, Europe's top rights court ruled that Italy had failed to protect residents, and gave the government two years to fix the situation.

This visit coincides with the 11th anniversary of a landmark climate manifesto by Leo's predecessor, Pope Francis.

The "Laudato Si" encyclical, which denounced mankind's ruthless exploitation of the environment, was hailed by experts for its scientific grounding.

Leo is expected to arrive by helicopter shortly before 9:00 am (0700 GMT) Saturday in Acerra, a city of some 60,000 inhabitants.

The US-born pontiff will deliver his first address at the cathedral to the clergy and the families of the victims of environmental pollution.

He will then meet and address parishioners from various towns in the region, before departing for the Vatican at midday.

Italy's "Land of Fires", also known as the "Triangle of Death", has served as a dump and illegal incineration site since the late 1980s.

Instead of paying exorbitant sums to have toxic waste disposed of legally, companies paid the region's Camorra mafia a fraction of the cost to dump everything from broken sheets of asbestos to car tyres and containers of industrial-strength glue.

Since 2013, a host of parliamentary inquiries has found the authorities negligent and in some cases complicit.

They have also highlighted the health fallout, including an increase in cases of cancer and foetal and neonatal malformations.

In 2018, the Senate said mobster criminality and political inaction had caused an ecological disaster.

Leo's visit is part of a series of summer trips to areas of Italy, which include a stop on the Mediterranean island of Lampedusa in July.

R.AbuNasser--SF-PST