(LifeSiteNews) — Pope Leo XIV blessed a block of ice as part of a “climate change” conference hosted by the Vatican.

The “Raising Hope for Climate Justice” Conference is taking place October 1-3 at Castel Gandolfo in Italy. The event, which is being livestreamed, featured a “Blessing of the Waters” that began with Pope Leo silently placing his hand on a block of ice and reciting blessings.

The ice came from a glacier in Greenland, according to Catholic News Service.

.@Pontifex blesses a block of ice at Vatican CLIMATE CHANGE event. pic.twitter.com/gk9J2OVmVf

— Sign of the Cross (@CatholicSOTC) October 1, 2025

Several conservative Catholics criticized the blessing on social media, most notably Jack Posobiec and Matt Walsh:

Christians: Communists are shooting us and our children and burning down churches across the world, can you please help us?

Pope Leo: https://t.co/1n8cNvbxlp

— Jack Poso 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) October 1, 2025

Horrific. The whole thing. Pope Leo blesses a block of ice and then stands there while these communist freaks do some kind of weird pagan Earth worshipping hippy ritual. The leader of the Catholic Church shouldn’t be anywhere near this nonsense. What the hell are we doing here https://t.co/LEpC3u141T

— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) October 1, 2025

During a press event ahead of the conference, Arnold Schwarzenegger called on every Catholic around the world to “be a crusader for the environment.”

According to Vatican News, more than 1,000 political and religious leaders as well as “climate experts” will gather at the conference, which celebrates the 10th anniversary of Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato si.

This is a developing story…