Pope Leo XIV is set to conclude his 11-day tour of Africa with an open-air Mass in Equatorial Guinea on Thursday, marking his first major international trip since assuming the papacy.
The visit, which combined pastoral outreach with political messaging, saw the pontiff travel approximately 18,000 kilometres across four countries, celebrating eight Masses and addressing key social and governance issues.
Throughout the tour, Leo repeatedly called for social justice, peace and respect for human dignity, while condemning inequality, corruption and the exploitation of natural resources by what he described as “tyrants.”
On Wednesday, the Pope visited a prison in Bata, where he was welcomed by hundreds of inmates and voiced concern over detention conditions.
In Malabo, he is scheduled to celebrate Mass at 10:00 a.m. (0900 GMT) in a stadium in the capital before departing for Rome, where he is expected to hold a customary in-flight press conference with journalists.
The trip has unfolded amid a diplomatic row with former US President Donald Trump, who had earlier criticised the pontiff as “weak” and “incompetent in foreign policy.” Leo, however, dismissed suggestions that his remarks during the tour were directed at Trump, stating they had been prepared prior to the criticism.
The Pope arrived in Equatorial Guinea on Tuesday following visits to Algeria, Cameroon and Angola, where he addressed leaders often criticised for authoritarian governance.
During the trip, he condemned those who, “in the name of profit, continue to lay their hands on the African continent to exploit and plunder it.”
Speaking in the presence of Equatorial Guinea’s long-serving president, Teodoro Obiang Nguema, Leo called for “spaces of freedom to increase” and criticised the “worrying hygiene and health conditions” in the country’s prisons.
Born Robert Francis Prevost, the 70-year-old pontiff has been noted for his energetic leadership style, drawing contrast with his predecessor, Pope Francis, who died last year at the age of 88.
The Vatican has confirmed that Leo’s next international visit will take him to Spain from June 6 to 12.
