MONGOMO — Pope Leo XIV celebrated Mass in Mongomo, Equatorial Guinea, and called on the country's authorities to work for justice and to close the gap between the privileged and the disadvantaged. The Vatican estimated that 100,000 people attended the service at the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, most standing in the building's grand entryway.

President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, who has led Equatorial Guinea since 1979 and comes from Mongomo, attended the Mass with his wife. Before the service, the pope greeted the crowd and the presidential family, and with the Obiangs at his side blessed the cornerstone of a future cathedral to be built in Ciudad de la Paz. Thousands waited in the basilica's entryway to welcome him as he arrived in his covered popemobile.

In his homily, the pope urged leaders to "serve the common good rather than private interests, bridging the gap between the privileged and the disadvantaged," according to the Vatican. He also called for greater room for freedom and a country where the dignity of the human person always may be safeguarded.

Mongomo, on the eastern border with Gabon, has seen major development since Equatorial Guinea's oil boom in the 1990s, with buildings, gardens, an 18-hole golf course and the starting point of the country's lone highway, which links it to Bata. More than half of Equatorial Guinea's population lives in poverty.

Later in the day, the pope visited a prison in the port city of Bata, addressing 600 detainees, including about 30 women. "The administration of justice aims to protect society. To be effective, however, it must always promote the dignity of every person," he said. He added: "True justice seeks not so much to punish as to help rebuild the lives of victims, offenders and communities wounded by evil." Inmates wore bright orange or khaki-green uniforms, had shaved heads and plastic sandals, and remained standing outside as rain began to fall.

Equatorial Guinea's prisons and justice system have been repeatedly faulted by the U.N., human rights groups and the U.S. State Department. "Torture is used to extract confessions or to punish, human rights defenders are harassed, and the lack of judicial independence compromises the right to a fair trial," said Marta Colomer Aguilera, senior campaigner at Amnesty's West and Central Africa office.

Seventy human rights organizations published an open letter to the pope urging him to address the U.S. deportation of migrants to Equatorial Guinea. The organizations wrote: "These practices circumvent humanitarian protections, expose refugees to detention and coercion, and subject individuals to refoulement, in direct contravention of international law." At least 29 migrants with no ties to the country have been deported there under deals with the Trump administration. The government has denied rights abuses related to the arrangement.

The stop marked the final full day of the pope's 11-day, four-nation African tour that took him from Algeria to Angola via Cameroon.