The Holy Father is wrapping up his papal trip to the African continent after visiting multiple countries there.
Pope Leo XIV looks out the window of the papal plane en route to Mengomeyén, Equatorial Guinea, Wednesday, April 22, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media
Pope Leo XIV said Mass and visited with several communities including incarcerated prisoners during his first full day in Equatorial Guinea on April 22.
The itinerary represented the last full day the Holy Father will spend in Africa during the papal trip, which commenced on April 13 and has seen the pope visit Algiers, Cameroon, and Angola before finishing in the small coastal nation.
Hereʼs a look at some of Pope Leo XIVʼs activities in Equatorial Guinea on April 22:
Pope Leo XIV stands with airline staff en route to Mengomeyén, Equatorial Guinea, Wednesday, April 22, 2026. | Credit: Vatican MediaPope Leo XIV is greeted upon his arrival at Mengomeyén, Equatorial Guinea, Wednesday, April 22, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media
Pope Leo XIV is given a formal greeting upon his arrival at Mengomeyén, Equatorial Guinea, Wednesday, April 22, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media
Pope Leo XIV is greeted by Catholics at the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Mengomeyén, Equatorial Guinea, Wednesday, April 22, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media
Colorful smoke drifts above Pope Leo XIV at the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Mengomeyén, Equatorial Guinea, Wednesday, April 22, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media
Pope Leo XIV stands beneath a balloon formation of a rosary at the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Mengomeyén, Equatorial Guinea, Wednesday, April 22, 2026. | Credit: Vatican MediaPope Leo XIV processes during Mass at the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Mengomeyén, Equatorial Guinea, Wednesday, April 22, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media
Pope Leo XIV presides over Mass at the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Mengomeyén, Equatorial Guinea, Wednesday, April 22, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media
Pope Leo XIV incenses the altar during Mass at the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Mengomeyén, Equatorial Guinea, Wednesday, April 22, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media
Pope Leo XIV elevates the chalice during Mass at the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Mengomeyén, Equatorial Guinea, Wednesday, April 22, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media
Pope Leo XIV speaks during Mass at the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Mengomeyén, Equatorial Guinea, Wednesday, April 22, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media
Pope Leo XIV greets Catholics during Mass at the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Mengomeyén, Equatorial Guinea, Wednesday, April 22, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media
Pope Leo XIV greets Catholics during Mass at the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Mengomeyén, Equatorial Guinea, Wednesday, April 22, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media
Pope Leo XIV unveils a plaque at the Pope Francis Technology School in Mengomeyén, Equatorial Guinea, Wednesday, April 22, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media
Pope Leo XIV blesses the Pope Francis Technology School in Mengomeyén, Equatorial Guinea, Wednesday, April 22, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media
Pope Leo XIV is greeted upon his arrival in Bata, Equatorial Guinea, Wednesday, April 22, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media
Pope Leo XIV prays at a monument to those who died in the 2021 explosions at Bata, Equatorial Guinea, Wednesday, April 22, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media
Pope Leo XIV prays at the Cathedral of St. James and Our Lady of the Pillar in Bata, Equatorial Guinea, Wednesday, April 22, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media
Pope Leo XIV addresses prisoners at Bata Prison, Equatorial Guinea, Wednesday, April 22, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media
Pope Leo XIV speaks to prisoners at Bata Prison, Equatorial Guinea, Wednesday, April 22, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media
A prison inmate in Bata, Equatorial Guinea, kisses the hand of Pope Leo XIV on April 22, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media
Pope Leo XIV greets a crowd under umbrellas during a meeting with families at Bata Stadium in Equatorial Guinea, Wednesday, April 22, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media
Pope Leo XIV waves to the crowd at a meeting with families at Bata Stadium in Equatorial Guinea, Wednesday, April 22, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media
A crowd of families assembles during a meeting with Pope Leo XIV at Bata Stadium in Equatorial Guinea, Wednesday, April 22, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media
Dancers put on a show for Pope Leo XIV during a meeting with families at Bata Stadium in Equatorial Guinea, Wednesday, April 22, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media
Pope Leo XIV receives a gift from a woman while meeting with families at Bata Stadium in Equatorial Guinea, Wednesday, April 22, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media
Pope Leo XIV speaks while meeting with families at Bata Stadium in Equatorial Guinea, Wednesday, April 22, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media
If you value the news and views Catholic World Report provides, please consider donating to support our efforts. Your contribution will help us continue to make CWR available to all readers worldwide for free, without a subscription. Thank you for your generosity!
Click here for more information on donating to CWR. Click here to sign up for our newsletter.
Vatican City, Mar 31, 2017 / 04:42 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Members of EWTN’s Rome Bureau on Friday met Benedict XVI in the Vatican Gardens to explain their work and thank him for his service to the Church, while he in turn thanked them for their efforts.
“Thank you for your work,” the emeritus Pope said March 31 to the six persons present at the encounter, who represented the various programs produced at the bureau.
EWTN’s Rome bureau has roughly 25 employees, producing both print and television news.
Members who attended audience were selected to represent each of the entities produced in the office, and included bureau chief Alan Holdren; office manager Emanuele Latini; head of production Pilar Piero; EWTN News Nightly producer Mary Shovlain; CNA correspondent Elise Harris; and ACI Prensa correspondent Alvaro de Juana.
The team met Benedict in the Vatican Gardens at 4:30 in the afternoon, when the emeritus Pope prays his daily rosary. He was accompanied by Archbishop Georg Ganswein, prefect of the papal household.
After finishing his prayer, Benedict removed his hat and stood up to greet the team.
Benedict was clear and alert, and interested in each person as they approched him.
Leading the delegation, Holdren gave a brief introduction to the organization; the emeritus Pope marvelled at the size of the bureau.
Benedict greeted each member of the group individually, learning about their families and their work.
Holdren gave the Bavarian personal letters from all those present. He in turn offered each of them a medal and commemorative cards of his 2012 visit to Lebanon, the last he took as Roman Pontiff.
He then gave the group his blessing and departed for his residence in the Vatican’s Mater Ecclesiae monastery.
The audience was granted to mark the one-year anniversary of the March 27, 2016 death of Mother Angelica, foundress of EWTN.
She launched the network in 1981, and it today transmits programming to more than 264 million homes in 144 countries. What began with approximately 20 employees has now grown to nearly 400.
The religious network broadcasts terrestrial and shortwave radio around the world, operates a religious goods catalog and publishes the National Catholic Register and Catholic News Agency, among other publishing ventures.
Among the television coverage produced through the Rome office are EWTN’s 30-minute weekly news program “Vaticano,” as well as a portion of “EWTN News Nightly.”
In addition, there are eight correspondents who write print news for Catholic News Agency and two of her sister-agencies, ACI Prensa and ACI Stampa.
By 
When I was in prison, you came to visit me – Says the Lord.
The Faithful of the Diocese of Rome are looking forward to the return of their pastor.
Let each bishop pastor the Faithful of his own diocese.