Pope Leo XIV calls for justice, freedom in Equatorial Guinea

Before a crowd estimated at about 100,000, Pope Leo XIV delivered a pointed message at a national service attended by Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, the country’s leader and the world’s long-serving president.

Leo called on citizens to work together to forge a society “capable of engendering a new sense of justice,” one with “greater room for freedom” where “the dignity of the human person always may be safeguarded.” He also addressed the nation’s troubling record on human rights and the stark imbalance in how the oil-rich country’s wealth is shared.

Equatorial Guinea’s prisons and justice system have been repeatedly singled out by the UN and condemned by human rights groups and the US State Department. Throughout his tour of Africa, which included stops in Algeria, Cameroon, and Angola, Leo has spoken with unusual candor, blasting “tyrants” for spending billions on wars and denouncing the “colonisation” of Africa’s mineral resources.