Pope Leo XIV is heading to Equatorial Guinea for the final leg of his four-nation African journey. The former Spanish colony on Africa’s western coast is run by Africa’s longest-serving president, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo. He has been in power since 1979 and is accused of widespread corruption and authoritarianism. The discovery of offshore oil in the mid-1990s transformed Equatorial Guinea’s economy virtually overnight. Yet more than half of the country’s nearly 2 million people live in poverty. And rights groups have documented how revenues have enriched the ruling Obiang family rather than the broader population. For Leo, the visit marks perhaps the most delicate diplomatic challenge of his four-nation Africa tour.
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Pope Leo XIV is marking the halfway point in his four-nation tour of Africa with a day focused on encouraging Cameroon’s young people. Leo was travelling Friday to Douala, Cameroon’s main port city, to celebrate Mass. The Vatican predicted some 600,000 people would turn out for the liturgy, the biggest crowd Leo is expected to draw on his 11-day, four-nation trip through Africa. Later Friday back in the capital Youande, Leo had an appointment with students, professors and administrators at the Catholic University of Central Africa. Popes have often used such encounters, especially in the developing world, to rally young people to persevere in the face of poverty, corruption and other challenges.
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