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On the final leg of his four-nation African pilgrimage, Pope Francis (correction: Pope Leo as referenced) has delivered a pointed rebuke of systemic injustice in Equatorial Guinea, calling out inhumane prison conditions, endemic corruption, and extreme wealth gaps that have left millions in poverty despite the small nation’s vast oil reserves.

The Pope’s public address came during a heavily attended open-air Mass in the city of Mongomo on Wednesday, where an estimated crowd of 100,000 gathered to greet him — including long-ruling President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, who seized power in a 1979 coup and currently holds the title of the world’s longest-serving incumbent head of state.

Opening his remarks with a call for compassion for marginalized groups, Pope Leo drew direct attention to the grim reality of incarceration in the country, ahead of a scheduled visit to Bata Prison, the notoriously overcrowded and abusive correctional facility in Equatorial Guinea’s economic capital. “My thoughts go to the poorest, to families experiencing difficulty and to prisoners who are often forced to live in troubling hygienic and sanitary conditions,” he told the gathered crowd.

Human rights watchdog Amnesty International has documented widespread abuse inside Bata Prison for years, reporting that inmates are subjected to routine brutal beatings as disciplinary punishment, and that dozens of detainees have been held incommunicado, leaving their families with no information about whether their loved ones are alive or dead.

Beyond prison conditions, the Pope used the high-profile visit to challenge deep-rooted inequality in the oil-rich nation, where decades of rule under Obiang have been marred by accusations of systemic corruption, widespread human rights abuses, and the diversion of national resource wealth to a tiny ruling elite. He urged Equatoguinean leaders and citizens alike to prioritize collective prosperity over private gain, saying: “The Creator has endowed you with great natural wealth. I urge you to work together so that it may be a blessing for all.”

Pope Leo specifically called for the country’s massive oil revenues to be invested in lifting up the broader population, rather than enriching a small circle of connected elites — a direct reference to longstanding accusations that Obiang’s government has siphoned off public funds for the personal gain of ruling family members. In 2020, Obiang’s son, current Vice President Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, was convicted by a French court of embezzling hundreds of millions of dollars in public funds to fund a lavish lifestyle in Paris, resulting in fines and the seizure of his French assets. Obiang’s government has repeatedly denied all allegations of corruption.

Global corruption watchdog Transparency International currently ranks Equatorial Guinea among the most corrupt countries in the world, while World Bank data confirms that despite the country’s high per-capita GDP driven by oil exports, more than half of its population lives in extreme poverty. Political opposition is effectively banned, independent journalism is nonexistent, as all domestic broadcast media is controlled directly by the state or allies of the ruling regime. In a clear call for greater political openness, Pope Leo added: “May there be greater room for freedom and may the dignity of the human person always be safeguarded.”

The Mass came one day after Pope Leo held a closed-door private meeting with President Obiang, ahead of his scheduled visit to Bata Prison on Wednesday evening, the final full day of his 4-country tour that also included stops in Algeria, Cameroon, and Angola. Throughout the tour, the Pope has spoken bluntly about historical and ongoing exploitation of the African continent, condemning neocolonial extraction of African mineral resources and blasting authoritarian leaders who divert billions of public funds into war instead of supporting vulnerable populations.

This outspoken tone has already drawn international pushback: shortly before departing for the African trip, Pope Leo criticized former U.S. President Donald Trump over aggressive rhetoric threatening military action against Iran, prompting Trump to respond that the pontiff was “bad for foreign policy.”

LAGOS, Nigeria — For exiled Equatorial Guineans who fled systemic political repression, Pope Leo XIV’s high-profile visit to their West-Central African homeland is not a cause for celebration — it is a public relations opportunity that longtime authoritarian ruler Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo will weaponize to whitewash his regime’s global image.

Guti Bae Tongala, a 59-year-old former cook from the remote Annobon Island who sought asylum in Spain in 2002 after escaping what he describes as targeted abuse of minority communities by the government, is among the critics speaking out against the trip. The visit marks the final stop on Pope Leo’s four-nation African tour, following stops in Algeria, Cameroon, and Angola. Vatican data shows Equatorial Guinea boasts one of the highest Catholic population shares on the continent, with roughly 75% of citizens identifying as Catholic, a legacy of decades of Spanish colonial rule.

During his time in the country, Pope Leo has publicly condemned the neocolonial extraction of Africa’s mineral resources, decried global political leaders’ “lust for power”, and publicly called on Equatorial Guinea’s government to advance greater justice and close the stark economic divide between the country’s tiny ruling elite and its majority disadvantaged population. But exiled dissidents and human rights activists argue these calls for reform will ultimately work to Obiang’s advantage.

Obiang, Africa’s longest-serving sitting head of state who has held uninterrupted power since seizing control in a 1979 coup, stands accused by global rights organizations of running one of the world’s most repressive regimes. For exiles like Tongala, the papal visit is a perfect gift for a leader eager to gain international legitimacy. “Obiang knows very well that the pope’s visit comes like a ring on his finger,” Tongala told the Associated Press in an interview from Spain. “Obiang will use the pope’s presence to clean up his image.”

Tutu Alicante, executive director of U.S.-based human rights organization EG Justice, notes that papal outreach is just the latest in Obiang’s long-running strategy to polish his global standing through high-profile international events. The Equatorial Guinean leader has already hosted two editions of the continent’s top football tournament, the Africa Cup of Nations, in 2012 and 2015, in a similar push to gain global acceptance.

Though Equatorial Guinea is legally a secular state, the Catholic Church remains deeply embedded in the nation’s political and social fabric, a holdover from Spanish colonial rule. Churches run much of the country’s educational and healthcare infrastructure for its population of nearly 1.9 million, and all major state events — from presidential inaugurations to Independence Day celebrations — open with a Catholic Mass. In 2011, Obiang was even inaugurated for another term at the sprawling neo-Gothic Basilica of Immaculate Conception in his hometown of Mongomo, a structure modeled after Vatican City’s St. Peter’s Basilica that ranks as the second-largest religious building in all of Africa, second only to the Basilica of Our Lady of Peace in Côte d’Ivoire.

Alicante argues that the relationship between church hierarchy and the Obiang regime is deeply intertwined. “The church leaders are very much interconnected intrinsically with the government,” he explained. “Part of it is the fear the government has instilled in everyone, including the church, and part of it is the monetary gains that the church derives from this government.” Neither local Catholic officials nor the Equatorial Guinean government responded to AP requests for comment on allegations of ongoing human rights abuses in the country.

Vatican representatives, however, defend the church’s approach to engaging with controversial political regimes. The Rev. Fortunatus Nwachukwu, second-in-command at the Vatican’s missionary evangelization office, told the AP that the church must navigate fraught civic spaces rather than withdraw or enter outright conflict. “Should the church go to war against the government? Surely no,” Nwachukwu said. “Should the church swallow everything as if it were normal? No. The church has to continue preaching justice, always in defense of life, human dignity and the common good.”

The Catholic Church’s relationship with political power in Equatorial Guinea has long been complicated. Former ruler Francisco Macias Nguema — Obiang’s uncle, whom he overthrew in 1979 — brutally persecuted Catholics, shuttered houses of worship, and banned the church entirely in 1978 in a push to sever remaining ties to former colonial power Spain. After seizing power, Obiang immediately reversed the ban, transitioned to civilian rule in 1982, and hosted Pope St. John Paul II on a visit the same year. He has remained in power ever since, winning six consecutive widely disputed elections marred by allegations of fraud and voter intimidation.

Global rights and economic data back up dissidents’ claims of systemic inequality and abuse. The World Bank estimates that more than half of Equatorial Guinea’s population lives in poverty, despite the country’s vast oil and mineral wealth, which rights groups say is almost exclusively siphoned off to enrich Obiang’s extended family. One of the president’s sons, current Vice President Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, was convicted of money laundering and embezzlement by French courts and sanctioned by the United Kingdom for similar corrupt activities. A second son, Carmelo Ovono Obiang, was opened for investigation by Spain’s High Court in 2024 over allegations he ordered the kidnapping and torture of two opposition leaders holding Spanish citizenship. A 2024 Amnesty International report documented widespread, routine arbitrary arrests, torture, and other cruel treatment of political dissidents across the country.

In 2023, the AP confirmed that the Obiang government imposed a months-long total internet shutdown on Annobon Island to suppress protests against abusive practices by a state-linked construction company. The country has also been accused of accepting millions of dollars in under-the-table payments from the U.S. to accept deported migrants who are not citizens of Equatorial Guinea, in a controversial deal that has drawn widespread global criticism.

Many exiled Equatorial Guineans are calling on Pope Leo to use his global platform to explicitly condemn the Obiang regime’s ongoing human rights violations. “I would like the pope to speak out in defense of the Christians who live in Equatorial Guinea and who have to endure the abuses of human rights that occur day by day at the orders of Obiang Nguema,” said Jorge Awal, a 27-year-old exiled Equatorial Guinean now working in Spain’s private sector.

This reporting is part of the Associated Press’ ongoing religion coverage, supported through a collaboration with The Conversation US via funding from the Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP retains full editorial control over all content.