On a Tuesday in April, Pope Leo XIV stepped onto the soil of Equatorial Guinea, the last stop of a four-nation African journey and the first papal visit in forty-four years, to a small country whose oil wealth has flowed mostly into the pockets of a few while most of its people remain poor. Under the long rule of President Teodoro Obiang, who has held power since 1979, the nation has been marked by corruption accusations and a new capital rising from the forest that critics fear will only widen the gulf. Leo, speaking on the anniversary of Pope Francis's death, reached for old truths about the
Pope Leo XIV Denounces Mineral 'Colonization' and 'Lust for Power' on Equatorial Guinea Visit
At least 29 deported migrants with no ties to the country have been sent to Equatorial Guinea, some held in detention with limited legal and medical support, and others returned to countries where they face persecution.
"Such an economy kills," Leo said, quoting Francis in the president's palace
Mark
Why does a papal speech in a small country matter this much?
Mimi
Because of where he said it. Oil is nearly half of GDP, yet more than half of people live in poverty, and he spoke in the palace of a president in power since 1979.
Mark
He never named Obiang's corruption, though.
Mimi
Right. He framed it through St. Augustine's two cities and talked about lust for power in general terms.
Luke
Worth being careful there. The reporting says he did not call out the Obiang family or the criticism of the new capital. Reading the Augustine passage as aimed at them is interpretation, not something he said.
Mark
And the minerals line?
Mimi
He said conflicts are often driven by the colonization of oil and mineral deposits. The AP places that beside U.S. and Chinese competition for African minerals.
Luke
But the pope didn't name the U.S. in the quoted remarks. The connection is the reporter's context.
Mark
What about the church's own position?
Mimi
Alicante says church leaders are tied to the government by fear and money. Nwachukwu says the church shouldn't fight the government or accept everything.
Luke
Those are two views, one from an activist and one from a Vatican official. Neither is a documented finding about the church's finances.
Mimi
The 29 deported migrants are the concrete human thread, and Bata's prison visit is next.
Luke
Whether he says anything about either is still unknown.
El Pulso
- Crowds lined the road into Malabo as the pope arrived, but beneath the flags runs a sharp unease about oil money that has enriched a ruling family while most of the nearly two million residents live in poverty.
- Leo condemned the colonization of oil and mineral deposits as a driver of armed conflict, quoting Pope Francis that 'such an economy kills,' a rebuke landing in a country where critics say the church is tangled up with the government.
- Global powers racing for African minerals, including the United States with its trading bloc and rail corridors, hover over the visit, while the government presses ahead with a costly new capital that opponents call a vehicle for insider profit.
- Deportation deals have sent at least 29 migrants with no ties to the country into Malabo, some held with little legal or medical help, and the pope's Wednesday prison visit in Bata is the next moment to watch.
- Leo chose the language of Augustine's City of God over direct accusation, leaving the trajectory open: a moral challenge issued, but no named target and no confrontation yet.
On a Tuesday in April, Pope Leo XIV stepped onto the soil of Equatorial Guinea, the last stop of a four-nation African journey and the first papal visit in forty-four years, to a small country whose oil wealth has flowed mostly into the pockets of a few while most of its people remain poor. Under the long rule of President Teodoro Obiang, who has held power since 1979, the nation has been marked by corruption accusations and a new capital rising from the forest that critics fear will only widen the gulf. Leo, speaking on the anniversary of Pope Francis's death, reached for old truths about the earthly city and its hunger for power rather than naming particular men, and in doing so he placed this small nation within a much older human struggle over who the wealth of the earth belongs to.
Crowds lined the road from the airport into Malabo on Tuesday, waving flags as Pope Leo XIV rode past in an open popemobile. It was the first papal visit to Equatorial Guinea since St. John Paul II came in 1982, and the final stop on a tour that had carried him through Africa from Angola. A senior local Catholic official, Diosdado Marques, said the people had waited 44 years for this moment and hoped many things would change.
The country is a former Spanish colony led since 1979 by Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, Africa's longest-serving president, who has been accused of corruption and authoritarian rule. Offshore oil transformed the economy after the mid-1990s, now making up nearly half of GDP, yet more than half of the nearly two million people remain poor. Rights groups and court cases abroad have shown how the revenues enriched the ruling family rather than the public.
Leo met Obiang and addressed officials and diplomats. Nearby, the government is building a new mainland capital, Ciudad de la Paz, which officials call strategic and critics say will deepen inequality. On the anniversary of Pope Francis's death, Leo quoted his predecessor that 'such an economy kills,' and warned that armed conflicts are often fueled by the colonization of oil and minerals.
That warning arrives in a fierce global scramble for African minerals, with Washington pursuing trade blocs, backing a peace deal and mining partnerships in Congo, and funding rail routes. Leo, however, did not name the Obiang family or the capital project. He invoked Augustine's City of God and its warning against the pride and lust for power that lead to ruin.
About three-quarters of the population is Catholic, yet the church is seen by some activists as entangled with the state, through fear and funding. A Vatican missionary official urged the church neither to wage war on the government nor to accept injustice as normal, but to keep defending justice and human dignity.
The visit also casts light on hard human costs. Equatorial Guinea has accepted migrants deported from the U.S. who are not its nationals, for which it was paid millions. At least 29 have been sent there; some remain detained in Malabo with little support, and others have been returned to lands where they face persecution. Leo called the deportation policy 'extremely disrespectful.' On Wednesday he is scheduled to visit a prison in Bata.
Crowds lined the road from the airport into Malabo on Tuesday, waving flags as Pope Leo XIV passed. He wore his red mozzetta and rode in an open-sided popemobile to the presidential palace. It was the first papal visit to Equatorial Guinea since St. John Paul II came in 1982, and the last stop on a four-nation tour of Africa that had brought Leo from Angola.
"There is a lot of joy today because we waited 44 years for the pope to come," said Diosdado Marques, a senior Catholic official in the country. He called the visit a blessing and said he hoped many things would change.
The country he arrived in is a former Spanish colony on Africa's western coast, led by Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, the continent's longest-serving president, in office since 1979. Obiang has been accused of widespread corruption and authoritarianism. Offshore oil, discovered in the mid-1990s, transformed the economy almost overnight. According to the African Development Bank, oil now makes up nearly half of GDP and more than 90% of exports. Yet more than half of the nearly 2 million people live in poverty. Human Rights Watch, along with court cases in France and Spain, has documented how the revenues enriched the ruling Obiang family rather than the wider population.
Leo met Obiang at the old presidential palace, then addressed government authorities, diplomats and civil service representatives. The government has been building a new capital on the mainland, Ciudad de la Paz, or City of Peace, but the move of government buildings is not finished. Authorities describe the project as strategic, given room for expansion in a city carved from tropical forest. Critics say it will deepen inequality and give the president's circle more chances to profit.
The day also marked one year since the death of Pope Francis, and Leo quoted his predecessor on income inequality worsened by a global economy that chases profit at any cost. "Such an economy kills," Leo said. He added that armed conflicts are often driven by the colonization of oil and mineral deposits, carried out with no regard for international law or the self-determination of peoples.
The remark lands amid a scramble for African minerals. The Trump administration has announced plans for a minerals trading bloc with allies and is racing to reach critical-mineral regions and outpace China, long dominant there. Last year it helped broker a peace deal for Congo's conflict-battered, mineral-rich east while signing a partnership giving American companies access to Congo's minerals. The U.S. is also funding the Lobito Corridor, a rail project to export minerals from Zambia and Congo through Angola, and has backed a South African effort to extract rare earths from industrial waste.
Leo did not name the Obiang family's corruption or the criticism of the new capital. Instead he invoked St. Augustine's "City of God," which sets an earthly city against an eternal one marked by love of one another, especially the poor. "The earthly city is centered upon the proud love of self, on the lust for power and worldly glory that leads to destruction," he said, urging freedom from "the pursuit of unjust wealth and the illusion of dominion."
About 75% of the population is Catholic, making this one of Africa's most Catholic countries, though it is officially secular. Tutu Alicante, a U.S.-based activist who runs the rights group EG Justice, said church leaders are intrinsically interconnected with the government, partly from fear the government has instilled and partly from money the church gets from it. The Rev. Fortunatus Nwachukwu, No. 2 in the Vatican's missionary evangelization office, said the church should not go to war with the government, nor swallow everything as normal, but keep preaching justice and defending life and human dignity.
The government also faces accusations of harassing, arresting and intimidating opponents, critics and journalists. And Equatorial Guinea is among several African nations paid millions of dollars under deals with the Trump administration to take migrants deported from the U.S. who are not its own nationals. AP reporting shows at least 29 such people with no ties to the country have been sent there. Some remain detained in Malabo with limited legal and medical support; others have been forced back to countries where they face persecution. Leo has called the administration's deportation policy "extremely disrespectful." On Wednesday he is due to visit a prison in the port city of Bata.
Citas Notables
Such an economy kills.— Pope Leo XIV, quoting Pope Francis
We waited 44 years for the pope to come. It's a blessing for the country.— Diosdado Marques, senior Catholic official
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