Pope Leo XIV will visit a prison in Equatorial Guinea infamous for its deplorable circumstances on Wednesday, the second-to-last day of a marathon African journey during which he has spoken out strongly on global issues.
The pope, who landed in the oil-rich but deeply unequal country on Tuesday after visiting Algeria, Cameroon, and Angola, will speak with detainees at Bata jail, which has been criticized by rights advocates for extreme overcrowding, poor sanitation, and prisoner mistreatment.
He will also meet with relatives and young people at Bata’s stadium to pay tribute to the victims of a horrific tragedy that rocked the seaside city in 2021, when a fire triggered a sequence of explosions at a munitions dump, killing over 100 people and injuring about 600 more.
Aside from Bata, the country’s largest city and commercial capital, the Pope will visit Mongomo, near the Gabonese border, to give mass and visiting a school.
Leo began his tour on Tuesday by asking Equatorial Guinea to put itself “in the service of law and justice” – strong statements in an authoritarian country that is frequently accused of human rights violations.
His tone, however, was more measured than on his previous stops, when he lambasted the “tyrants” who were pillaging the world, condemned “exploitation” by the rich and powerful, and clashed with Donald Trump after the US president objected to the first American pontiff’s call for an end to the Middle East conflict.
