At the Raising Hope conference in Rome this week, Pope Leo XIV blessed a 20,000-year-old piece of Greenland glacial ice brought onstage by artist Olafur Eliasson.
Eliasson, who is known for large-scale works that explore natural phenomena, transported the block of ice from Nuup Kangerlua fjord with the help of geologist Minik Rosing. The piece had already broken away from the Greenland ice sheet and was melting into the ocean.
In an Instagram post about the event, Eliasson wrote: “It was striking to witness Pope Leo XIV bless a 20,000-year-old piece of Greenlandic glacial ice … The fragile ice underscored the importance of recognizing that nature is not separate from humanity.”
The Raising Hope gathering brings together faith leaders, scientists, and policymakers ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) in Brazil this November. Organizers say the Pope’s participation highlights the moral and spiritual dimensions of the climate crisis.
Greenland’s vast ice sheet, a crucial regulator of Earth’s climate, is shrinking rapidly; NASA estimates it is losing around 270 billion tons of ice each year due to global warming.
Pope Leo XIV, elected in May 2025, has only recently begun his papacy but is already signaling attention to ecological issues. Eliasson, whose past projects include Ice Watch installations of Greenland ice in European cities, said the Rome gesture was meant to remind audiences that “our global relationship with ice sheets is existential: they link us to the past, shape our present climate, and … will determine our shared future.”
