Pope visits Equatorial Guinea on last stop of Africa tour

Pope Leo begins the final leg of his African tour on Tuesday with a visit to Equatorial Guinea, the fourth and last country on his 11-day continental tour.

The US-born pontiff arrived from Angola and is due in Equatorial Guinea around noon (1100 GMT). It is his first visit to Africa since becoming pope.

Leo follows in the footsteps of John Paul II, who 40 years ago became the first pope to visit the oil-rich country of two million people. About 80 per cent of Equatorial Guinea’s population is Catholic, a legacy of Spanish colonisation.

Throughout his African tour, the pope has criticised tyranny and exploitation while promoting peace, adopting a tougher tone than his previously reserved style.

In Malabo, the former capital located on Bioko Island, giant portraits of the pope and welcome banners line the streets alongside flags of the Vatican and Equatorial Guinea. A hymn composed in his honour will be sung by church choirs across the country during his visit.

“This will bring spiritual change and motivate many people to go to mass,” Malabo resident Juan Raul told AFP.

Leo will speak on Tuesday before President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, government members, the diplomatic corps, and civil society representatives.

On Wednesday, he will travel to Obiang’s stronghold of Mongomo to hold mass and greet students at a technology school named after Pope Francis. He will then continue to the economic capital, Bata, to pay tribute to victims of a 2021 explosion that killed more than 108 people at a military camp, and visit inmates at Bata prison.

On Thursday, the pope will hold a large mass at Malabo stadium before concluding his 11-day, 18,000-kilometre journey across Africa.

SOURCE: AFP