Pope Leo finishes eventful tour of Africa with prison visit - after war of words with Donald Trump

Pope Leo has wrapped up an eventful tour of Africa with a dramatic visit to a prison in Equatorial Guinea, where crowds of inmates shouted "freedom".

It has been a trip notable not just for the places he has visited, but for his outspoken comments that many have interpreted as directed at President Donald Trump.

On Wednesday, the pontiff visited a facility in the city of Bata, where detainees are regularly held for years without access to lawyers, according to Amnesty International.

As he was leaving, prisoners began jumping up and down in the rain, shouting: "Freedom, freedom!"

Equatorial Guinea is widely derided as one of the most repressive countries in the region, run by President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo since 1979.

Pope Leo, the first American-born to lead the Catholic Church, now returns to Rome after his ambitious four-nation, 11-city, trip through the world's fastest-growing Catholic region.

He said during the tour that the world is being "ravaged by a handful of tyrants".

When reporters raised the comments with him, President Trump responded: "I can disagree with the Pope... I have a right to disagree with the Pope."

Ambitious trip to a key region for Catholicism

The choice of Africa for one of his first major foreign trips is significant, says Professor Tina Beattie, a theologian and commentator on Catholicism.

She told Sky News: "Catholicism in Africa is quite vibrant and growing, so it makes good political sense to go there, even though I wouldn't reduce his reasons to that.

"But it is a hub of Catholic communities who are often very poor, often immersed in huge conflicts."

With this he shows a continuation of his predecessor Pope Francis, she added.

Pope Leo visited Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea, which all have large Catholic populations, but chose to start the trip in Algeria, a Muslim country.

Speaking in the Algerian capital, Algiers, he said called for "mutual understanding, recognising that we are all one family" in a world "full of conflicts and misunderstandings".

Prof Beattie added: "It's been very clear that one of his aims is to promote Christian-Muslim dialogue and understanding.

"I think in a way he is taking on some of the most divisive issues, and it's hard not to see that underneath this is a resistance to the trend in American politics."

A message of peace in a time of many conflicts

The pontiff said he was coming to Algeria as a "pilgrim of peace".

"Blessed are the peacemakers," he told the faithful in Cameroon. "But woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic and political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth."

He also said: "The world is being ravaged by a handful of tyrants, yet it is held together by a multitude of supportive brothers and sisters.

"The masters of war pretend not to know that it takes only a moment to destroy, yet often a lifetime is not enough to rebuild."

While Pope Leo did not name any specific "tyrants", his comments have been interpreted by many as being directed, at least in part, at Mr Trump.

The pontiff has said that the "tyrants" speech was written two-weeks before President Trump's comments about him, and that his words were not directed at the US leader.

Pope Leo vs President Trump?

Nonetheless, the pontiff's words ignited a flurry of late-night Truth Social posts from President Trump.

"We don't like a Pope who says its OK for Iran to have a nuclear weapon," he wrote.

Mr Trump later told reporters: "We don't want a Pope who says crime is OK in our cities. I'm not a big fan of Pope Leo."

In response, Pope Leo said he had "no fear of the Trump administration", and his role was not political, adding that he didn't want to "get into a debate" with the president.

Vice President JD Vance, himself a Catholic, suggested that Pope Leo should "be careful" when opining on matters of theology.

"For JD Vance to suggest that the pope needs to study theology, it's so hysterically funny to be honest really," Prof Beattie said.

"Trump knows that he is the target of some of these comments, Pope Leo doesn't have to name him."

And this may be presenting a problem for the US leader, she added.

"The pope is the leader of the world's Catholics, and when a politician pits himself against the pope, even Catholics who might be critical of the Pope's politics would feel that's a step too far."

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This has resulted in a loss of support for President Trump among Catholics, many of whom had previously considered themselves part of the MAGA crowd.

With the midterm elections looming in November, any loss of support for the Republican among key demographics could be crucial.

(c) Sky News 2026: Pope Leo finishes eventful tour of Africa with prison visit - after war of words with Donald