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  "path": "/latest/pope-leo-decries-corporate-profits-made-at-cost-of-public-health-environment/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-05-23T09:17:02.000Z",
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    "Pope Leo decries corporate profits made at cost of public health, environment",
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  "textContent": "ACERRA, Italy: Pope Pope Leo XIV on Saturday criticised companies pursuing “dizzying” profits at the expense of the environment, during a visit to southern Italy’s toxic waste-hit region known as the “Land of Fires”.\n\nSpeaking in Acerra, near Naples, the first American pope urged the world to reject what he described as “temptations of power and enrichment” tied to practices that pollute land, water, air and communities.\n\nThe visit focused attention on an area long associated with illegal toxic waste dumping and unusually high cancer rates among residents.\n\nPope Leo said he had come to “gather the tears” of families who had lost loved ones to illnesses linked to environmental contamination.\n\nResidents welcomed the pontiff waving Vatican flags and carrying pictures of relatives who had died, as the pope travelled through the town in the popemobile before meeting victims and local families.\n\nThe European Court of Human Rights ruled last year that Italian authorities had failed for decades to adequately protect residents in the area from illegal waste dumping, dating back to at least 1988.\n\nThe region, also known as the “Triangle of Death”, has faced scrutiny over links between organised crime networks and waste disposal operations.\n\nFor years, waste collection and disposal in parts of southern Italy were allegedly controlled by private operators with ties to the Camorra mafia organisation around Naples.\n\nPope Leo said “unscrupulous people and organisations” had been allowed to operate with impunity for too long, warning against economic interests that ignore public welfare and environmental safety.\n\nItalian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni appointed a special task force last year to oversee environmental clean-up efforts and support affected families after the European court ruling.\n\nThe pope’s remarks come ahead of the release of his first major encyclical on Monday, which is expected to focus on artificial intelligence, including concerns over its use in warfare and its impact on workers’ rights.\n\nThe Vatican has recently signalled growing concern over the ethical and social consequences of rapidly advancing AI technologies.\n\nThe post Pope Leo decries corporate profits made at cost of public health, environment appeared first on HUM News English.",
  "title": "Pope Leo decries corporate profits made at cost of public health, environment"
}