Pope Leo criticises inequality and injustice during whirlwind final day of Africa tour

Pope Leo used the final full day of his four-nation Africa tour on Wednesday to deliver a powerful message against wealth inequality, urging believers to work towards bridging the divide between rich and poor in oil-rich Equatorial Guinea.The pontiff, whose outspoken criticism of war and despotism has drawn the ire of US President Donald Trump, was also scheduled to visit a high-security prison. Human rights groups allege this facility holds political prisoners in abusive conditions. Equatorial Guinea, governed since 1979 by President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, the world's longest-serving president, is widely regarded as one of the region's most repressive nations, despite enjoying warm ties with the US, partly due to its oil wealth.Recently, Obiang's government struck a deal with the Trump administration to accept deportees from other countries, one of several such arrangements in Africa that have drawn criticism from immigration lawyers and advocates.The 70-year-old pontiff, who was flying approximately 700 km across Equatorial Guinea to visit three cities, began his day with an event in Mongomo. During a Mass in Central Africa's largest religious structure, Leo implored Equatorial Guineans "to serve the common good rather than private interests, bridging the gap between the privileged and the disadvantaged."The pope, who has debuted a forceful new speaking style during the Africa tour, also decried poor treatment of "prisoners who are often forced to live in troubling hygienic and sanitary conditions".Pope Leo XIV speaks to the faithful as he arrives to lead a holy Mass at the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Mongomo, Equatorial Guinea (Reuters)In attendance for the event at the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception were Obiang and his son, Vice President Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, widely known as Teodorin, who has for years documented his glamorous lifestyle on Instagram.In October 2017, Teodorin was convicted of embezzlement in France during a trial in absentia, and the court ordered the confiscation of more than 100 million euros ($117 million) worth of his assets.The Vatican said roughly 100,000 people had gathered inside and outside the basilica to see Leo on Wednesday, pressing in around a colonnade modelled after St. Peter's Square in Rome.They danced and screamed as his white popemobile arrived. Organizers released gold, white, green and red smoke in the air, nodding to the colours of the Vatican and Equatorial Guinea flags.Mairano Nve, 70, said he was excited to see Leo. "It is a huge joy to have the pope visiting us," said Nve. "He just wants to see us and give us a blessing in the name of Jesus."Activists were hoping Leo would draw attention to the deportees sent from the U.S. to Equatorial Guinea.A group of 70 NGOs published an open letter on Monday calling on Leo to push for "fair, humane and lawful treatment" of the deportees, saying they were being pressured to return to their home countries.Pope Leo used the last full day of his four-nation Africa tour on Wednesday to speak out against wealth inequality, urging believers to work to bridge the gap between rich and poor as he traversed oil-rich Equatorial Guinea (Reuters)At the facility in Bata that Leo was expected to visit on Wednesday afternoon, detainees are regularly held for years without access to lawyers, Amnesty International says.The government dismisses criticism of its justice system and says it has an open democracy.More than 70 per cent of Equatorial Guinea's population of 1.8 million identify as Catholic.Leo, who is the first pope to visit since 1982, is at the end of one of the most complicated overseas tours ever arranged for a pontiff. He has traversed nearly 18,000 km (11,185 miles) across 18 flights to 11 cities in four countries.The pope will also pray in Bata at the ​site of a series of explosions in 2021 at a military barracks that killed more than 100 people, which the government blamed on poor storage of ordnance.Human rights activists have called for an independent investigation into the incident, so far in vain.