Pope visiting one of Equatorial Guinea’s notorious prisons

Pope Leo XIV is visiting one of Equatorial Guinea’s notorious prisons Wednesday, drawing attention to human rights abuses that campaigners have denounced for years and especially after the US began deporting third-country migrants.

Leo’s visit to the prison in Bata, the central African country’s port city, continues the tradition of Pope Francis, who made prison visits a priority of his pontificate.

Francis’ aim was to give prisoners hope and to remind them the church was with them, while also shining a spotlight on judicial abuses, overcrowding and other injustices.

The visit caps Leo’s last full day in Africa, rounding out a marathon 11-day, four-nation tour that took him from Algeria in the north to Angola in the south, with Cameroon in between.