At the Raising Hope conference in Rome, Pope Leo XIV blessed a 20,000-year-old piece of Greenland glacial ice brought onstage by artist Olafur Eliasson. The ice, transported from Nuup Kangerlua fjord with geologist Minik Rosing, had already broken away from the Greenland ice sheet and was melting. Eliasson documented the event on Instagram, calling it a striking moment that underscored the connection between nature and humanity.
The blessing highlights the moral and spiritual dimensions of the climate crisis ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP30) in Brazil. Eliasson, known for his Ice Watch installations, uses the gesture to emphasize the existential importance of ice sheets to Earth's climate. Pope Leo XIV, elected in May 2025, is signaling early attention to ecological issues, linking art, faith, and science in a shared call for climate action.