The National Catholic Register reports that on May 23, 2026, the antipope Leo XIV (Robert Prevost) visited the so-called “Terra dei Fuochi” (“Land of Fires”) near Naples, Italy — a region devastated by decades of illegal toxic waste dumping. The visit, framed as an act of solidarity with the local population suffering from environmental and health crises, was explicitly tied to the 11th anniversary of the late antipope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’. Leo XIV declared that the encyclical “has represented a great gift for the Church’s mission in this land” and stated that “the cry of creation and of the poor among you has been felt most dramatically due to a deadly concentration of shadowy interests and indifference toward the common good — forces that have poisoned both the natural and social environments.” The antipope called for “conversion,” thanked those who “responded to evil with good,” and urged the community to pursue justice and ecological restoration. Bishop Antonio Di Donna of Acerra recounted the history of the environmental tragedy, and approximately 12,000 people attended the gathering. The entire event is a textbook case of the conciliar sect’s systematic reduction of the Church’s supernatural mission to naturalistic social activism, replacing the preaching of Christ the King with the gospel of environmentalism.
The Replacement of the Supernatural Order with Naturalistic Activism
The visit of Leo XIV to the “Terra dei Fuochi” is not an isolated act of pastoral charity. It is the logical and inevitable fruit of the entire conciliar revolution, which has methodically dismantled the Church’s supernatural mission and replaced it with a program of horizontal, worldly engagement. The antipope did not come to Acerra to preach the necessity of baptism, the reality of sin, the urgency of eternal salvation, or the kingship of Jesus Christ over individuals and nations. He came to validate Laudato Si’ — a document that, in its practical effect if not always in its explicit wording, subordinates Catholic doctrine to the secular agenda of environmentalism, climate activism, and the politics of “care for creation.”
Pius XI, in the encyclical Quas Primas (1925), established the Feast of Christ the King precisely to combat the “secularism of our times, so-called laicism, its errors and wicked endeavors.” He declared that “the hope of lasting peace will not yet shine upon nations as long as individuals and states renounce and do not wish to recognize the reign of our Savior” and that “when God and Jesus Christ — as we lamented — were removed from laws and states and when authority was derived not from God but from men, the foundations of that authority were destroyed.” The antipope Leo XIV, standing in a cathedral in Acerra, said nothing of the sort. He spoke of “shadowy interests” and “indifference toward the common good” — language indistinguishable from that of any secular NGO or progressive political movement. The “conversion” he invoked was not the conversion of hearts to Jesus Christ through the sacraments, but a vague, naturalistic “responsibility” toward the environment.
The “Cry of Creation” vs. the Cry of Souls in Mortal Sin
Leo XIV declared: “Indeed, the cry of creation and of the poor among you has been felt most dramatically due to a deadly concentration of shadowy interests and indifference toward the common good — forces that have poisoned both the natural and social environments. It is a cry that calls for conversion!”
This statement is a masterclass in the conciarist inversion of priorities. The greatest crisis facing the people of Acerra — and indeed all of Italy — is not toxic waste. It is the state of their souls. It is the apostasy of the post-conciliar Church itself, which has poisoned the spiritual environment of the entire Catholic world far more devastatingly than any industrial dumping in Campania. The antipopes who have occupied the Vatican since 1962 have presided over the systematic destruction of the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the corruption of the sacraments, the spread of heresy from the highest levels of the hierarchy, and the abandonment of the Church’s divine mission to save souls. This is the true “environmental catastrophe” — the poisoning of the supernatural order by the conciliar sect.
St. Pius X, in Lamentabili Sane Exitu (1907), condemned the modernist proposition that “the Church is an enemy of the progress of natural and natural sciences” (prop. 57) and that “contemporary Catholicism cannot be reconciled with true knowledge without transforming it into a certain dogmaless Christianity, that is, into a broad and liberal Protestantism” (prop. 65). The conciliar sect has fulfilled this prophecy precisely: it has transformed Catholicism into a broad, dogma-light movement centered on social justice, environmentalism, and “care for creation” — the very “broad and liberal Protestantism” that St. Pius X warned against.
The antipope’s exhortation — “Can these lands come back to life? Be the answer yourselves: a united community, in faith and in commitment. Then life will multiply” — is a Pelagian appeal to human effort, devoid of any reference to grace, prayer, penance, or the sacraments. It is the language of a social worker, not of the Vicar of Christ. Where is the call to Confession? Where is the call to the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass? Where is the call to repentance for sin — the true cause of all disorder in the natural and social orders? Peccatum est causa ruinae (sin is the cause of ruin) — but this fundamental truth is entirely absent from the conciliar lexicon.
Laudato Si’: The Conciliar Gospel of Naturalism
The explicit framing of the visit around Laudato Si’ is deeply significant. Leo XIV stated: “Today we wish to fulfill Pope Francis’ desire, recognizing the great gift that the encyclical Laudato Si’ has represented for the Church’s mission in this land.”
Here the antipope openly acknowledges that the conciliar sect’s “mission” in this suffering region is defined not by the Gospel of Jesus Christ, not by the teachings of the pre-conciliar Magisterium, but by a single encyclical of the apostate antipope Francis. This is the hermeneutic of conciliarism: the teachings of one usurper are “fulfilled” by the next, in an endless chain of naturalistic activism that never arrives at the supernatural truth of the Catholic faith.
Pius IX, in the Syllabus of Errors (1864), condemned the proposition that “the Roman Pontiff can, and ought to, reconcile himself, and come to terms with progress, liberalism and modern civilization” (prop. 80). The conciliar sect has done exactly this — it has reconciled itself with the modern world’s obsession with environmentalism, climate change, and social justice, making these the centerpiece of its “mission.” The result is a Church that speaks the language of the United Nations rather than the language of the Gospel.
The Omission of Christ the King
Perhaps the most damning aspect of this entire event is what was not said. In a region devastated by criminal corruption, illegal dumping, and the poisoning of the land, the antipope had a perfect opportunity — indeed, a duty — to preach the social kingship of Jesus Christ. Pius XI taught in Quas Primas that “not only private individuals, but also rulers and governments have the duty to publicly honor Christ and obey Him” and that “the state is happy not by one means, and man by another; for the state is nothing else than a harmonious association of men.” He insisted that “rulers of states therefore [should] not refuse public veneration and obedience to the reigning Christ, but let them fulfill this duty themselves and with their people, if they wish to maintain their authority inviolate and contribute to the increase of their homeland’s happiness.”
Leo XIV said nothing of the sort. He spoke of “commitment” and “the pursuit of justice” — but justice without Christ the King is merely secular humanism. The true remedy for the “Terra dei Fuochi” is not environmental activism framed by Laudato Si’. It is the recognition of the social reign of Jesus Christ, the conversion of Italy to the Catholic faith, the restoration of the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and the submission of all civil authority to the law of God. Regnum Christi in cordibus, regnum Christi in societate (the kingdom of Christ in hearts, the kingdom of Christ in society) — this is the only true remedy for the disorders of the modern world.
The Conciliar Sect’s Pattern of Worldly Engagement
This visit fits a well-established pattern of the conciarist antipopes inserting themselves into worldly crises — environmental disasters, refugee emergencies, economic inequality — while remaining entirely silent about the spiritual catastrophe they themselves have caused. John Paul II, Benedict XVI, Francis, and now Leo XIV have all performed these theatrical gestures of worldly solidarity while the conciarist structures they oversee continue to destroy the faith of millions through heretical teachings, sacrilegious liturgies, and the systematic suppression of the Traditional Latin Mass.
The people of Acerra deserve the truth. They deserve to be told that the root cause of all disorder — environmental, social, political — is sin, and that the remedy is the sacramental life of the true Catholic Church, not the naturalistic activism of the conciliar sect. They deserve to hear the uncompromising words of Pius XI: “When God and Jesus Christ — as we lamented — were removed from laws and states and when authority was derived not from God but from men, the foundations of that authority were destroyed.”
Instead, they received from Leo XIV a reaffirmation of Laudato Si’ — the conciarist gospel of environmentalism — and a call to “responsibility” and “commitment” that could have been uttered by any secular leader. This is the abomination of desolation: a counterfeit church performing counterfeit missions in counterfeit solidarity, while the true Church — the Church of all ages, the Church of the Most Holy Sacrifice, the Church of Christ the King — endures in the faithful who profess the integral Catholic faith and reject the conciliar apostasy.
Conclusion: The Bankruptcy of Conciliarism
The visit of Leo XIV to the “Terra dei Fuochi” is a microcosm of everything the conciliar sect has become: a humanitarian organization with Catholic trappings, preaching a gospel of environmental activism and social justice while remaining utterly silent about the supernatural truths that alone can save souls and restore order to society. The antipope’s words were not heretical in the narrow, technical sense — they were something worse: they were empty. They were the words of a man who occupies the Vatican but has nothing of substance to say to a suffering people, because the substance of the Catholic faith — the kingship of Christ, the necessity of the sacraments, the reality of sin and judgment — has been methodically excised from the conciarist program.
The people of Acerra, and all the faithful, deserve better. They deserve the true Church, the true Mass, and the true preaching of Jesus Christ as King of all nations and all creation. Non est salus in alio quam in Christo Rege (there is no salvation in any other than Christ the King).
Source:
In Italy’s ‘Land of Fires,’ Pope Leo XIV Laments ‘the Cry of Creation and the Poor’ (ncregister.com)
Date: 23.05.2026