Pope Leo arrives in Equatorial Guinea on Africa tour

Pope Leo XIV landed in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, on Tuesday to begin the final leg of his four-nation Africa tour. Aboard the flight from Angola he commemorated the first anniversary of Pope Francis' death, praising Francis' "generosity and mercy" as a guiding legacy. During the trip he condemned exploitation of Africa's mineral wealth and warned that ongoing wars and a breakdown of international law risk "tragically compromising" humanity's future. The Malabo visit is diplomatically sensitive because Equatorial Guinea's oil-rich, authoritarian government will test the Vatican's balance between human rights criticism and maintaining diplomatic ties.