Overview
- León XIV, speaking to reporters Thursday on the flight back to Rome, called on the United States and Iran to return to talks, condemned the killing of protesters and the death penalty, and said he cannot support war.
- He concluded an 11‑day, four‑country tour that finished in Guinea Ecuatorial, where he led large Masses, visited a psychiatric hospital in Malabo, and met inmates at the Bata prison.
- In homilies and prison remarks, he urged wider “spaces of freedom,” respect for the poor, and chances for inmates to study and work, as detainees in Bata shouted “Libertad” in the rain.
- Human-rights organizations warned the visit could be read as legitimizing President Teodoro Obiang’s rule and cited abuses including torture, severe overcrowding, and years-long detention without lawyers.
- The Holy See said it maintains ties even with authoritarian governments to push quietly for justice and humanitarian outcomes, stressing that a papal visit focuses on people rather than endorsing a regime.