Pope Leo XIV celebrated Mass in the city of Mongomo in Equatorial Guinea on Wednesday, with the Vatican estimating that 100,000 people attended the service.
The Mass was celebrated in the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Mongomo, which was consecrated in 2011.
Leo, who is on an 11-day tour of Africa, greeted the crowd and the presidential family before the religious service.
President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo has ruled the country since 1979 – making him the world’s longest-ruling leader.
What did the Pope say during his Mass in Equatorial Guinea?
During his sermon, Leo urged citizens to work together to build a society that is “capable of limiting the new sense of justice”, where “there is more room for freedom” and where “the dignity of the human person can always be protected.”
Furthermore, he called upon attendees to work to “serve the common good rather than private interests – bridging the gap between the privileged and the underprivileged.”
In his remarks, Leo focused on the Central African country’s record of human rights abuses and rampant inequality when it comes to distributing the oil-rich country’s wealth.
After the Mass, Leo was to visit a prison in the port city of Bata, following in the footsteps of his predecessor, Pope Francis, who prioritized such visits.
Equatorial Guinea’s prisons and justice system have been repeatedly highlighted by the United Nations and condemned by human rights groups and the US State Department.
The Pope spoke out against inequality and justice under the watch of the presidential family
More than 20% of Catholics worldwide live in Africa and more than 70% of Equatorial Guinea’s population of 1.8 million identify as such.
President Obiang, who was accompanied on Wednesday by his wife and his son Teodoro “Teddy” Nguema Obiang – Equatorial Guinea’s vice president – has long been accused of authoritarianism and corruption during his time leading the nation.
Recently, a French court convicted the younger Obiang of embezzlement and ordered him to pay a fine of €30 million ($35.2 million), as well as freeze his assets and serve a three-year suspended sentence.
Last year, the US temporarily waived corruption sanctions on the younger Obiang so he could attend UN meetings and tour US cities. He also met US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau.
After those corruption sanctions were lifted, it was reported that Equatorial Guinea was one of several African countries that were paid millions of dollars by the Trump administration to take deported immigrants from the US.
Pope Leo has called the Trump administration’s overall migration deportation policy “deeply outrageous.”
Edited by: Alex Berry