Pope Leo urged young people and families to embrace reconciliation and lead with dignity as he spoke at Bata Stadium in Equatorial Guinea on the final day of his Africa tour.
The U.S.-born pontiff encouraged worshippers to respect family life and deepen their faith, saying acts of charity rooted in these values could help transform societies.
“The future is yours,” Leo told the crowds, echoing words first spoken by Saint John Paul II during his 1982 visit, when he called on citizens to reconcile and respect the rights of all. Pope Leo said those values remain relevant today.
He later visited a prison in the city of Bata, where detainees are often held for years without access to lawyers, according to Amnesty International. Before the visit, a government spokesperson insisted the country treats prisoners fairly in line with United Nations standards: “We are committed to guaranteeing human rights, fundamental rights, and citizenship.”
Leo listened to testimonies from prisoners gathered in a yard inside the facility. As he left, some detainees jumped up and down in the rain, shouting “freedom, freedom.”
The pope also prayed on Wednesday at the site of explosions at a military barracks in Bata in 2021 that killed more than 100 people, which the government blamed on poor storage of ordnance.
More than 70% of Equatorial Guinea’s population of 1.8 million identify as Catholic.
Leo, the first pope to visit the country since 1982, is nearing the end of one of the most complex overseas tours undertaken by a pontiff. He has travelled nearly 18,000 km (11,185 miles) across 18 flights to 11 cities in four countries.
On Sunday, he was in Angola, where he urged around 130,000 people to move beyond decades of division following a civil war from 1975 to 2002.
In Cameroon, tens of thousands of worshippers filled a stadium in Douala. “It is time to examine our conscience and take a bold leap forward,” Leo said.
The visit drew large crowds, many dressed in bright fabrics printed with his image. “It is a moment of great joy,” said Bishop of Obala, Leopold Bayemi Matjei. “Our country needs blessing, a powerful blessing, so that hope can rise again,” he added.
In unusually direct remarks in Cameroon, the pope criticised leaders who spend vast sums on war, warning that the world is “being ravaged by a handful of tyrants.” He also condemned the use of religious language to justify conflict, calling for a “decisive change of course.”
Leo also became the first pontiff to visit Algeria, where he met Muslim leaders in a bid to strengthen interfaith cooperation. Algeria is predominantly Muslim but has a small and significant Catholic population.
Africa has the fastest-growing Catholic population, according to Vatican statistics. Leo and Church officials hope the tour will draw greater global attention to the continent.
“Pope Leo’s visit will remind the world that Africa matters and the vibrancy of the Church in Africa remains at the heart of a thriving global Church,” said Reverend Agbonkhianmeghe Orobator, a Jesuit from Nigeria who led his order’s communities across Africa from 2017 to 2023.
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