The Terra dei Fuochi, or “land
of fires,” is a region in southern Italy where “decades of illegal dumping,
burying and burning of waste” had been devastating by the time Pope Leo paid
Acerra a visit in May, 2026.[1]
Lest visual images of hell’s fires reminiscent of Jonathan Edwards’ sermons
come to mind, the devastation was squarely in the this-worldly domain of public
policy. The pope’s speech can thus be viewed as an over-reach from the
standpoint of his native fauna—the sui generis domain of religion, whose
referent transcends not only the limits of cognition, perception, and
sensibility (emotion), but also Creation itself![2]
The full essay is at "On Religion and Public Policy."
1. Fortunato Pinto, “Pope
Leo XIV Visits Southern Italy’s ‘Land of Fires’,” Euronews.com, 23 May,
2026.
2. I am borrowing here from Pseudo-Dionysius, a sixth-century Christian theologian, who wrote on what I would call God’s radical transcendence. Relatedly, God has been thought of as being wholly other. In both of these characterizations, it follows that the domain of religion is not only distinct from every other domain, but also unique.
2. I am borrowing here from Pseudo-Dionysius, a sixth-century Christian theologian, who wrote on what I would call God’s radical transcendence. Relatedly, God has been thought of as being wholly other. In both of these characterizations, it follows that the domain of religion is not only distinct from every other domain, but also unique.
