STORY: Pope Leo's four-nation Africa tour headed towards a dramatic close on Wednesday (April 22), with the pontiff speaking at Equatorial Guinea prison.

Widely derided as one of the most repressive countries in the region, Spanish-speaking Equatorial Guinea has been run since 1979 by President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, the world's longest-serving president. It has enjoyed warm ties with the U.S. in part because of its oil riches.

Leo visited a prison in the city of Bata, a facility where detainees are regularly held for years without access to lawyers, Amnesty International says.

Leo listened to several testimonies from prisoners gathered in a yard inside the facility. Detainees later sang and danced as the pope looked on, before rain began to fall during his remarks. Despite the downpour, prisoners remained standing outside.

Leo, who is the first pope to visit the country 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 also prayed on Wednesday at the site of a series of explosions in 2021 at a military barracks in Bata 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.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

Pope Leo visits prison in Equatorial Guinea on last day in Africa

VIDEO SHOWS: PRISONERS AT BATA PRISON DANCING AND SINGING / POPE LEO SITTING / EXTERIORS OF BATA PRISON / LEO ACCEPTING AND RAISING WOODEN CROSS

RESENDING WITH FULL SCRIPT

SHOWS: BATA, EQUATORIAL GUINEA (APRIL 22, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

1. PRISONERS STANDING IN FRONT OF POPE LEO

2. POPE LEO SITTING

3. VARIOUS OF PRISONERS DANCING AND SINGING

4. POPE LEO WATCHING

5. VARIOUS OF PRISONERS DANCING AND SINGING

6. VARIOUS EXTERIORS OF BATA PRISON

7. VARIOUS OF PRISONERS HOLDING FLAGS OF THE VATICAN AND WITH IMAGE OF POPE LEO

8. VARIOUS OF POPE LEO SITTING

9. VARIOUS OF PRISONERS LISTENING TO POPE LEO'S SPEECH UNDER RAIN

10. RAIN FALLING ON METAL ROOF

11. PRISONERS LISTENING TO POPE LEO'S SPEECH UNDER RAIN

12. VARIOUS OF POPE LEO SPEAKING

13. PRISONERS APPLAUDING AND CHEERING

14. POPE LEO ACCEPTING AND RAISING WOODEN CROSS

15. VARIOUS OF PRISONERS JUMPING AND CHANTING IN RAIN