Diaspora members fear Pope’s visit could bolster Equatorial Guinea leader

A pope’s arrival raises fears of legitimacy among Equatorial Guinea diaspora

Pope Leo XIV’s visit to Equatorial Guinea is drawing unease from some Catholics who fled abuses in the country, who fear the trip could be used to improve the international standing of President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo. Gutïn Bae Tongala, a 59-year-old cook from the tiny island of Annobon, said he left in 2002 seeking refuge in Spain after what he described as government mistreatment of minority groups and decades of oppression by the ruling family.

Tongala and other people who spoke to The Associated Press said Obiang could frame the papal visit as a blessing for his government, despite long-running accusations by activists and rights groups. Tongala said from Spain that Obiang “knows very well that the pope’s visit comes like a ring on his finger,” adding: “Obiang will use the pope’s presence to clean up his image.”

The pope’s Equatorial Guinea stop is the last leg of a four-nation Africa visit that also took him to Algeria, Cameroon and Angola. During the trip, Leo has denounced what he described as the “colonization” of Africa’s minerals and has urged countries to work for justice while closing what he called “the gap between the privileged and the disadvantaged.”

Church roots and state ceremony in Catholic Equatorial Guinea

Equatorial Guinea is officially described as secular, but Catholics and other observers say the Catholic Church remains deeply interwoven with public life and politics. The Associated Press reported that churches provide educational centers, hospitals and social spaces for a population of nearly 1.9 million, and that Catholic institutions are active across the country.

The report also said state ceremonies—such as presidential inaugurations and Independence Day—feature Catholic Mass. In 2011, Obiang was inaugurated in the neo-Gothic Basilica of Immaculate Conception in his hometown of Mongomo, a site modeled on St. Peter’s Basilica and Square at the Vatican, which the report described as the largest religious building in Central Africa and the second largest in Africa.

Tutu Alicante, a U.S.-based activist who runs the EG Justice rights group, said church leaders are “very much interconnected intrinsically with the government.” She said part of that relationship is rooted in fear the government has instilled broadly, including in the church, and part is in the monetary gains the church derives from the government.

Catholic officials in the country and the government did not respond to The Associated Press’s request for comment on reported abuses, according to the report.

Denials from the justice ministry during the pope’s prison visit

During the pope’s visit to a prison in Bata, Equatorial Guinea’s Justice Minister Reginaldo Biyogo Ndong denied that rights abuses occur. Ndong told journalists that the country’s prison and justice systems respect international human rights laws, and he said the justice system has an “enviable” infrastructure and is “ready to guarantee human rights, fundamental rights.”

The Catholic Church’s stance on how directly it should confront state abuses is also emerging through Vatican figures’ comments during the visit. The report said Fortunatus Nwachukwu, No. 2 in the Vatican’s missionary evangelization office, told The Associated Press that the Church is present in “difficult civil spaces” and navigates them.

Nwachukwu said, “Should the church go to war against the government? Surely no,” and added, “Should the church swallow everything as if it were normal? No.” He said the Church has to keep preaching justice “always in defense of life, human dignity and the common good,” according to the report.

A history of repression and elections under Obiang

The Vatican and Catholic leaders are navigating a political landscape shaped by decades of autocratic rule. The report said Obiang took power in 1979 by deposing his uncle, Francisco Macias Nguema, and that he later transitioned into a civilian leader in 1982—the same year he received St. John Paul II during a visit to the country.

Under Obiang, the report said he has remained in power through six elections conducted under controversial circumstances. It also described how former President Macias Nguema persecuted Catholics, closed churches and banned the church in 1978 to cut ties with Spain, the country’s former colonial power. The report said Obiang overturned that ban after taking power.

Rights groups cite abuses; diaspora ask for papal voice

Rights-focused critics say the pope’s message and presence will be measured against a record they say includes systematic repression. The report said more than half the population is poor, citing the World Bank, and that rights groups have accused the government of using the nation’s oil wealth to enrich mainly Obiang’s family. It said one of the president’s sons is vice president and was convicted of money laundering and embezzlement in France and sanctioned by the U.K. under similar circumstances.

The Associated Press also reported that a 2024 Amnesty International report documented what it called “widespread use of arbitrary arrests, torture and other ill-treatment” in the country. It added that Carmelo Ovono Obiang, the president’s other son, was investigated in 2024 by Spain’s high court over the alleged kidnapping and torture of two opposition leaders with Spanish citizenship.

People living outside Equatorial Guinea said they believe Obiang is using Leo’s visit to seek legitimacy despite discontent over the family’s tight grip on power. Jorge Awal, 27, who now works in the private sector in Spain, said, “I would like the pope to speak out in defense of the Christians who live in Equatorial Guinea and who have to endure the abuses of human rights that occur day by day at the orders of Obiang Nguema,” according to the report.

In addition to human rights concerns, the report noted other controversies that have touched life in the country, including a prolonged internet shutdown in Annobon Island over protests involving what The Associated Press said were debilitating practices by a construction company. It also said the country is among several African nations paid millions in opaque deals with the U.S. to receive migrants deported from the U.S. to countries other than their own.