The pope delivered a frank speech criticising prison conditions in Equatorial Guinea on the final day of a four-nation tour that also took him to Angola.

Final stop: Equatorial Guinea

Pope Leo XIV ended a 10-day, four-nation Africa tour in Equatorial Guinea with a visit to one of the country's prisons, where he called for humane treatment of inmates and systemic justice reform.

The pope gave what observers described as a frank and passionate speech during the visit — a tone that characterised his stops throughout the continent. He pushed directly for changes to conditions inside Equatorial Guinea's detention facilities.

Angola: a call to move beyond division

Earlier in the tour, Leo addressed a large Mass in Angola, urging the country to move beyond the "divisions" left by its war-scarred past and to "build hope." The appeal came on the third leg of the trip before the pope moved on to Equatorial Guinea for the tour's closing events.

Scope of the tour

The trip spanned 10 days and four nations, making it a significant early foreign engagement for the pontiff. The prison visit in Equatorial Guinea marked the formal end of the tour.