Pope Leo XIV says "may the Holy Spirit grant you to see an “army” of peace rising" - "Let resentment die...bear witness to life" on Visit to Polluted Land in Acerra

Pope Leo XIV, visits the southern Italian town of Acerra, on May 23, the southern Italian Campania region, devastated by environmental degradation due to illegal rubbish dumping and the unchecked burning of toxic waste. The town of 65,000 residents is at the heart of the so-called “Terra dei Fuochi”. or 'Land of Fires', a territory also known as "The Triangle of Death", which for the past 20 years has been suffocated by toxic fires burning the contaminated land. This has given rise to a health crisis in which hundreds of people, including many children, have developed rare forms of cancer. In Pope Leo’s discourse to the clergy and the faithful gathered in the city’s Cathedral, he invited families, workers, young people, and civic leaders to “walk together,” placing human dignity at the centre of every choice.
MEETING WITH THE BISHOPS, THE CLERGY, RELIGIOUS MEN AND WOMEN,
AND THE FAMILIES OF VICTIMS OF ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION
FULL TEXT ADDRESS OF THE HOLY FATHER
Cathedral of the Assumption of Mary (Santa Maria Assunta) in Acerra
Saturday, 23 May 2026
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In the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Peace be with you! [Address from the diocesan Bishop]

Your Eminences, Your Excellencies,
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning and thank you for your welcome!

I thank the Lord for the opportunity to meet you, having returned to Campania just a few days after my visit to the Shrine of Pompeii and the city of Naples. As you know, Pope Francis had hoped to come here, to what has sadly come to be known as the “Terra dei Fuochi”, the “Land of Fires”, but he was unable to do so. Today we intend to fulfil his wish, recognizing the great gift that the Encyclical Laudato si’ has been for the Church’s mission in this land. Indeed, the cry of creation and of the poor amongst you has been felt all the more dramatically, due to a deadly combination of obscure interests and indifference to the common good, which has poisoned the natural and social environment. It is a cry that calls for conversion!

In this Cathedral we are experiencing the first ecclesial and, I would say, most intimate part of my visit. Then, in the square, we will symbolically meet the whole of society. I have come first and foremost to gather the tears of those who have lost loved ones, killed by environmental pollution caused by unscrupulous individuals and organizations, who for too long have been able to act with impunity. I am here, however, also to thank those who have responded to evil with good, especially a Church that has dared to speak out and be prophetic, to gather the people in hope. Thus, knowing that I was visiting you on the eve of Pentecost, I searched the Holy Scriptures for a page that could interpret and inspire your journey. I found it in a magnificent vision of the prophet Ezekiel, led by the Lord to have an experience that would become a powerful message of resurrection for the exiled people. Ezekiel recounts: “The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley; it was full of bones. And he led me round among them; and behold, there were very many upon the valley; and they were very dry” (Ez 37:1-2).

Dear friends, God had placed man and woman in a garden, so that they might cultivate and care for it. Everything was life, beauty and fertility. Even this land was once known as Campania felix, for it had the power to enchant with its fruitfulness, its produce and its culture, like a hymn to life. And yet, here is death, of the land and of mankind. We can identify with the prophet’s dismay at that expanse of dry bones. We grieve for the devastation that has compromised a marvellous ecosystem, places, stories and memories. Faced with this reality, there can be two attitudes: indifference or responsibility. You have chosen responsibility and, with God’s help, have embarked on a journey of commitment and the pursuit of justice.

The Lord then poses a question to Ezekiel: “Son of man, can these bones live?”. He answered: “O Lord God, thou knowest” (Ez 37:3). Dear friends, here God has new questions for us, which broaden our horizons. He knows that we have a heart that seeks life and longs for eternity, but that all too easily puts them off to an indefinite and distant time, to a different world that does not yet exist. Ezekiel, on the other hand, must serve his people, those who are here, in the situation in which they find themselves. In the same way, our Churches have the mission to make the Word of God resound here and now. This Word asks us whether we believe in its very possibilities: it is the Word of life. If we meet today, it is to respond to this Word. And we respond thus: Lord, death seems to be everywhere, injustice seems to have triumphed, crime, corruption and indifference still kill, goodness seems to have withered away. Yet, if you ask us, ‘Can these bones live?’, we believe and say: “O Lord God, thou knowest!” You know that we can rise again, because you yourself take us by the hand. You know that our desert can blossom. You know how to turn mourning into joy.

Sisters and brothers, all of this is very tangible: it is a promise that is already becoming a reality. Pope Francis, in the Encyclical Laudato si’, whilst denouncing a paradigm of death, clearly announced the silent emergence of new life. After listing examples in which people are already setting out together and giving new shape to social and environmental justice, he writes: “An authentic humanity, calling for a new synthesis, seems to dwell in the midst of our technological culture, almost unnoticed… Will the promise last, in spite of everything, with all that is authentic rising up in stubborn resistance?” (Laudato si’, 112). Dear friends, be witnesses to this “stubborn resistance” that becomes rebirth, where the Gospel illuminates and transforms life. This is what the Second Vatican Council taught us, particularly with the Constitution Gaudium et spes. The Lord asks us new questions about how we live in our neighbourhoods, about our willingness to work together as individuals and institutions, about our passion for education, about honesty in our work, about the fair distribution of power and wealth, and about respect for people and for all creatures. Can these lands come back to life? Be the answer yourselves: a community united in faith and commitment. Life will then flourish.

And here is the Lord’s command to His prophet: “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live” (Ez 37:4-5). Ezekiel obeys and observes: “I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold, a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to its bone. And as I looked, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them; but there was no breath in them” (Ez 37:7-8). We understand, therefore, that the miracle does not happen all at once. The prophet is certainly astonished by what he sees and hears, but it is still not enough; something is still missing. The same applies to us: we must trust again, listen again, believe again. The choices you have made, the ecclesial journey you have undertaken, the small and great new beginnings with which you have faced your pain are not yet everything. If you stop, you go backwards. Indeed, the Lord speaks again to Ezekiel: “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live”. So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great host” (Ez 37:9-10).

Brothers and sisters, may the Holy Spirit grant you to see an “army” of peace rising to its feet and healing the wounds of this land and its communities. No longer a fire that destroys, but a fire that revives and warms, the fire of the Spirit that kindles the hearts and minds of thousands upon thousands of men and women, of children and the elderly, and inspires care, consolation, attention and true love. In particular, you, families struck by death, generate new life by passing on to your sons and daughters, grandchildren and neighbours that sense of responsibility which has all too often been lacking until now. Let resentment die; be the first to practise the justice you seek; bear witness to life, and educate in care.

And you, ordained ministers, women and men religious, be living members of this people: manifest daily the authority of service, which humbles itself and draws near, which takes the first step and forgives. A culture of privilege, of arrogance, of irresponsibility, which has done so much harm to this land, as to many other regions of Italy and the world, must indeed be dismantled. May the Spirit blow from the four winds and inspire new forms of proclamation, cooperation, and environmental and social regeneration. There is indeed a spirituality of places, but one that owes everything to the spirituality of people. For the transformation of the world always begins in the heart. Ezekiel himself, before this prophecy of death and resurrection, proclaimed the renewal of which God alone is capable: “Thus says the Lord God … I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances. You shall dwell in the land which I gave to your fathers; and you shall be my people, and I will be your God” (Ez 36: 22, 27-28).

May the Risen Jesus grant us to dwell together in this way, able to receive and put into practice the Word of God, pilgrims here below and citizens in His eternity.

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Holy See Press Office Bulletin, 23 May 2026