Pope Leo used the last full day of his four-nation Africa tour on Wednesday (April 22) to speak out against wealth inequality, urging believers to work to bridge the gap between rich and poor as he traversed oil-rich Equatorial Guinea.

The 70-year-old pontiff, who was flying about 700 km (435 miles) across Equatorial Guinea on Wednesday to visit three cities, opened his day with an event in Mongomo, on the eastern border with Gabon on the edge of the Congo Basin rainforest.

The Vatican said roughly 100,000 people had gathered inside and outside the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception to see Leo on Wednesday, pressing in around a colonnade modelled after St. Peter's Square in Rome.

They danced and screamed as his white Popemobile arrived. Organizers released gold, white, green and red smoke in the air, nodding to the colours of the Vatican and Equatorial Guinea flags.

Leo, who is the first pope to visit 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.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

POPE LEO IN MONGOMO IN EQUATORIAL GUINEA, SUPPORTERS GATHERED / POPE HOLDING MASS

RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT

SHOWS: EQUATORIAL GUINEA (APRIL 22, 2026) (VATICAN MEDIA – News use only)

1. POPE LEO SHAKING HANDS NEAR PLANE

2. POPE LEO GOING UP STAIRS OF PLANE, SHAKING HANDS

3. VARIOUS OF POPE LEO SITTING ALONE ON PLANE

4. POPE WALKING DOWN PLANE STAIRS

5. TWO GIRLS GIVING FLOWERS TO POPE LEO

6. VARIOUS OF POPE WALKING DOWN CARPET AT FOOT OF PLANE, SHAKING HANDS

MONGOMO, EQUATORIAL GUINEA (APRIL 22, 2026) (VATICAN MEDIA – News use only)

7. VARIOUS OF POPE IN VEHICLE, SUPPORTERS CHEERING

8. VARIOUS OF SUPPORTERS CHEERING AND HOLDING FLAGS

9. CLERGY WALKING IN FOR MASS

10. POPE WALKING IN FOR MASS

11. POPE CONDUCTING MASS

12. VARIOUS OF PEOPLE SINGING

13. PEOPLE SITTING FOR MASS

14. (PART MUTE) VARIOUS OF PEOPLE SITTING, SOME WEARING CLOTHES ITEMS WITH IMAGE OF POPE LEO

15. POPE LEO RELEASING BALLOONS / BALLOONS IN AIR