Beatriz Alonso de Medina
On Saturday, May 23, Pope Leo XIV will travel to what is known as the “Land of Fires” or the “Triangle of Death.”
This name refers to the years of toxic waste-burning fires and illegal trash dumping that have occurred in the territory, turning the area into an epicenter of pollution and poisoning the health of its inhabitants.
ANTONIO PINTAURO
Director of Communications, Diocese of Acerra
Unfortunately, the phenomenon of the Land of Fires originated from the disposal of toxic waste and illegal waste, which at a certain point poisoned the air of these countryside areas and our cities. And yet they continue to be so fertile that they once produced as many as three harvests a year, three harvests of excellent products.
Just a few kilometers from Naples, this city has benefited from the richness of its farmlands, which over the years has shaped the agricultural livelihood of its 60,000 inhabitants.
ANTONIO PINTAURO
Director of Communications, Diocese of Acerra
It was fundamentally born with an agricultural vocation. And, so to speak, it has a part that is the heart of the city, which still preserves this cultural and religious character, still tied to the agricultural world and to the world of the past, we could say.
The pope's visit to a place that has suffered such severe environmental damage has, therefore, a very clear purpose: a call for the care of creation and a reminder of the need for stewardship.
ANTONIO PINTAURO
Director of Communications, Diocese of Acerra
ORIGINAL ITALIAN
Pope Leo will come above all to commemorate the eleventh anniversary of Laudato si' by Pope Francis, on the care of our Common Home, precisely, on the care of creation.
The pope's trip will include a pastoral visit to the city’s cathedral, where he will meet with bishops, priests, and affected families in a moment of prayer and encounter with the local community.
ANTONIO PINTAURO
Director of Communications, Diocese of Acerra
The heart of the visit will then be in the cathedral: a meeting, so to speak, that will certainly be emotional, between the Pope and the families. Families who have lost young sons, even teenagers and children, in recent years to tumors that doctors themselves identified as anomalous, unlike anything they had ever seen before.
Before returning to the Vatican, Pope Leo will also hold a public meeting with local authorities and faithful from different municipalities in the area. There he will deliver a message about stewardship of creation, social responsibility, and solidarity with those communities suffering from the consequences of pollution.
