Pope Leo XIV told inmates at one of Equatorial Guinea’s prisons in Bata that “You are not alone,” delivering a message of hope during a stop that brought renewed attention to conditions behind bars and to alleged failings in the country’s criminal justice system. The pope’s remarks to prisoners, delivered in Spanish, came during a rain-drenched prison visit on Wednesday that concluded the Vatican leader’s four-nation Africa trip.
In the central courtyard of the prison, inmates gathered as Pope Leo XIV spoke. The report described many prisoners dressed in new neon orange and beige uniforms, while the courtyard appeared recently repainted. As soon as he began his address, a large rainstorm started, drenching the inmates.
“You are not alone. Your families love you and are waiting for you. Many people outside these walls are praying for you,” Pope Leo XIV told the inmates, according to the account. He added, “If any of you fear being abandoned by everyone, know that God will never abandon you, and that the Church will stand by your side.” He also told authorities that justice should protect society, and said that incarceration should not be “punishment alone,” saying, “To be effective, it must always promote the dignity and potential of every person.”
During the remarks, the pope contrasted punishment-only approaches with a broader conception of justice that, he said, seeks “not so much to punish as to help rebuild the lives of victims, offenders and communities wounded by evil.” After Pope Leo XIV left, the report said the drenched inmates broke into a dance party in the courtyard as rain continued to fall, shouting “Libertad! Libertad! Libertad!”
The prison visit followed Pope Leo XIV’s day earlier in Mongomo, an eastern city near the border with Gabon. The report said Pope Leo XIV began his last full day in Africa with Mass in Mongomo, where President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, who has ruled for four decades, and Obiang’s wife and son attended. It also said the Vatican estimated that about 100,000 people attended the Mass, most standing in the entryway to the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception.
In his homily in Mongomo, Pope Leo XIV urged citizens to work together to build a society “capable of engendering a new sense of justice,” where “greater room for freedom” exists and where “the dignity of the human person always may be safeguarded.” He also urged people to “serve the common good rather than private interests, bridging the gap between the privileged and the disadvantaged,” and he said his thoughts went to “the poorest,” families experiencing difficulty and “prisoners who are often forced to live in troubling hygienic and sanitary conditions.”
The report said Equatorial Guinea’s prisons and judiciary have repeatedly been faulted by the United Nations and condemned by human rights groups and the U.S. State Department. It cited a 2023 U.S. report describing abuses including arbitrary or unlawful killings and arrests, political detentions, torture, life-threatening prison conditions, and “serious problems” with the judiciary’s independence.
Speaking to journalists during the prison visit, Equatorial Guinea’s Justice Minister Reginaldo Biyogo Ndong denied abuses and said the country’s systems respect international human rights laws. The report said he described the justice system infrastructure as “enviable” and said it is “ready to guarantee human rights, fundamental rights.”
On the eve of Pope Leo XIV’s prison visit, the report said 70 human rights organizations published an open letter urging him to speak out about the U.S. deportation of migrants to Equatorial Guinea and to encourage African nations not to be complicit. The report also said that in the run-up to the pope’s arrival, the government released nearly 100 people arrested during a 2022 crackdown on street violence, according to a local lawyer who requested anonymity, who called the releases a “positive outcome” but said the government had not taken action on releasing jailed activists and politicians.
The prison stop also drew attention because it came after reports that Equatorial Guinea was among several African countries paid millions of dollars in controversial deals with the Trump administration to accept migrants deported from the U.S. to other countries. The report said none of those migrants were being held at the Bata prison, but the visit still spotlighted the country’s overall human rights record and judiciary.