Pope Leo XIV listens to a girl as he arrives at the Parish of Our Lady of Fatima in Luanda, Angola, for a meeting with bishops, priests, consecrated men and women, and pastoral workers Monday, April 20, 2026, on the eighth day of an 11-day apostolic journey to Africa (AP Photo\/Andrew Medichini)<\/small><\/p>\n
2026-04-21T05:13:39Z<\/p>\n
LUANDA, Angola (AP) \u2014 Pope Leo XIV heads Tuesday to Equatorial Guinea for the final leg of his four-nation African journey, arriving in a country that presents perhaps the most diplomatically delicate challenge of this trip and his young papacy.<\/p>\n
The former Spanish colony on Africa\u2019s western coast is run by Africa\u2019s longest-serving president, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, 83. He has been in power since 1979 and is accused of widespread corruption and authoritarianism.<\/p>\n
The discovery of offshore oil in the mid-1990s transformed Equatorial Guinea\u2019s economy virtually overnight, with oil now accounting for almost half of its GDP and more than 90% of exports, according to the African Development Bank.<\/p>\n
Yet more than half of the country\u2019s nearly 2 million people live in poverty. And rights groups including Human Rights Watch \u2014 as well as court cases in France and Spain \u2014 have documented how revenues have enriched the ruling Obiang family rather than the broader population.<\/p>\n
Leo has shown he won\u2019t mince words on this maiden African journey as pope, and the church\u2019s teaching on the scourge of social inequity and corruption is clear. If Leo\u2019s stop in Cameroon was any indication, the pope\u2019s messaging in Equatorial Guinea might be just as sharp.<\/p>\n
Upon arriving in Yaounde, Cameroon last week, Leo met with President Paul Biya, at 93 the world\u2019s oldest leader. Like Obiang, Biya has also been in power for decades \u2014 since 1982 \u2014 and like Obiang, he\u2019s accused of presiding over an authoritarian government.<\/p>\n