Pope Leo on Saturday (May 23) called out companies who seek "dizzying" profits at the cost of environmental pollution, on a visit to an area in Italy known as a hotbed for illegal dumping of toxic waste.

On a visit to Acerra, about 220 km (137 miles) south of Rome, the first U.S. pope urged the world to "reject temptations of power and enrichment linked to practices that pollute the land, water, air, and social coexistence."

Leo said he wanted to come to the area near Naples known as the "Land of Fires," where the European Court of Human Rights ruled last year that authorities had failed to protect residents from waste dumping since at least 1988, to "gather the tears" of families who had lost loves ones to related illnesses.

Arriving by popemobile in an outside square on a sunny spring day, Leo was greeted by people waving small yellow and white Vatican flags and wearing yellow hats, some holding up posterboards with pictures of family members who had died.

Leo, who in recent months has been speaking more forcefully and will issue his first major document on Monday, said "unscrupulous people and organizations have been allowed to act with impunity for too long."

During his four-hour visit to Acerra, he also referred to "the dizzying profits of a few, blind to the needs of people, their work and their future." He also met with victims.

Leo will issue his first encyclical, a major text, to the world's 1.4 billion Catholics, on Monday. It is expected to address the rise of AI and how the technology is being used in warfare and challenging workers' rights.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

ACERRA, ITALY (MAY 23, 2026) (VATICAN MEDIA - Access all)

1. POPE LEO ARRIVING AT CATHEDRAL OF THE ASSUMPTION OF MARY IN ACERRA, ITALY

2. POPE WALKING DOWN CENTRAL NAVE OF CATHEDRAL

3. MOBILE PHONE RECORDING POPE'S ENTRANCE

4. VARIOUS OF POPE GREETING FAITHFUL AND CLERGY

5. POPE WALKING TOWARD THRONE, BYSTANDERS APPLAUDING

6. POPE MAKING SIGN OF THE CROSS

7. (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) POPE LEO SAYING:

"I have come first of all to gather the tears of those who have lost loved ones, killed by environmental pollution caused by unscrupulous people and organisations who have been allowed to act with impunity for too long".

8. CLERGY

9. POPE EXCHANGING GIFTS WITH BISHOP OF ACERRA, ANTONIO DI DONNA

10. VARIOUS OF POPE GREETING AND SHAKING HANDS WITH FAITHFUL

11. POPE SHAKING HANDS WITH WOMAN HOLDING A PHOTOGRAPH

12. INTERIOR OF CATHEDRAL

13. POPE GREETING BYSTANDERS BEFORE LEAVING

14. POPE LEAVING CATHEDRAL

15. BANNER HANGING FROM BALCONY READING (Italian): "Welcome Pope Leo XIV. Acerra hugs you"

16. TOWER/ CROWD WAITING FOR POPE

17. CHILD HOLDING FLAG

18. FAITHFUL HOLDING BANNERS

19. LOCAL AUTHORITIES

20. FAITHFUL HOLDING BANNERS

21. BANNER

22. VARIOUS OF POPE ON POPE MOBILE

23. FAITHFUL

24. POPE TAKING TO THE STAGE

25. LOCAL AUTHORITIES LISTENING

26. (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) POPE LEO SAYING:

"Sisters, brothers, that [technocratic] paradigm still presents itself as a winning one today. It is at the root of the proliferation of conflicts, behind which lies the race to hoard resources. We see it persist whenever those in political and institutional positions of responsibility show themselves to be too weak in the face of the powerful. We find it at work in a technological development that aims for dizzying profits of a few and is blind to the needs of people".

27. POPE SPEAKING

28. (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) POPE LEO SAYING:

"Now, we all know that we must watch over the health of the creation just as we watch over our front door. We must resist the temptations of power and enrichment linked to practices that pollute the earth, water, air, and our coexistence".

29. FAITHFUL CHEERING POPE

30. VARIOUS OF POPE BLESSING FAITHFUL

31. VARIOUS OF POPE RECEIVING GIFT

32. VARIOUS OF POPE MEETING FAITHFUL

33. POPE WAVING FROM POPE MOBILE

34. FAITHFUL SINGING

35. POPE LEAVING ON POPE MOBILE

36. BED SHEET WITH MESSAGE READING (Italian): "Holiness, bless this land"