Leo XIV in Bata stresses the “exciting mission of being spouses and parents.”

- Courtney Mares, OSV News, Mongomo, Equatorial Guinea (OSV News) / F. Otamendi

Pope Leo XIV celebrated Holy Mass on Wednesday in the second largest Catholic church in Africa telling the faithful that “the future of Equatorial Guinea depends on your decisions”.

“Brothers and sisters, it is necessary for Christians to take into their own hands the destiny of Equatorial Guinea”He encouraged them in his morning homily. “Therefore, I would like to encourage you: do not be afraid to proclaim the Gospel and to bear witness to it with your lives.”.

The Mass took place in the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, in the eastern city of Mongomo, near Equatorial Guinea's border with Gabon. The basilica is currently the largest church in Central Africa and the second largest Catholic church in the entire continent, after the Basilica of Our Lady of Peace in Ivory Coast.

Prioritizing the common good over private interests

In his homily, delivered in Spanish, Pope Leo XIII appealed to the leaders and citizens of the country, as in Angola, to prioritize the common good.

“The Creator has endowed you with great natural wealth: I urge you to work together to make it a blessing for all,” he said.

“May the Lord help you to become a society in which all, according to their respective responsibilities, work ever more fully to serve the common good rather than private interests, building bridges between the privileged and the disadvantaged.”.

«May there be more room for freedom and may the dignity of the human person always be safeguarded,” he added.

Basilica consecrated by Cardinal Arinze in the name of Benedict XVI

Thousands of people attended the Mass. Many gathered in the square surrounding the basilica's colonnade. Before the liturgy, the Pope greeted the crowd from the popemobile as colorful fireworks lit up the skies and a giant rosary made of balloons was released into the air.

Mongomo is the hometown of President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, who has ruled the country since 1979 and who attended the mass with his wife.

The basilica, inspired by St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, was begun in 2006 and financed by the State. It was consecrated on December 7, 2011 by Nigerian Cardinal Francis Arinze on behalf of Pope Benedict XVI.

“The Eucharist, the living Bread that nourishes us”.”

“We have gathered in this magnificent cathedral basilica, dedicated to the Immaculate Conception, Mother of the Incarnate Word and Patroness of Equatorial Guinea, to listen to the word of the Lord and to celebrate the memorial that he has left us as the source and summit of the life and mission of the Church,” said Pope Leo XIII.

“The Eucharist truly contains all the spiritual good of the Church: it is Christ, our Passover, who gives himself to us; he is the living Bread that nourishes us,” he continued. “His presence in the Eucharist reveals God's infinite love for all humanity and the way in which he encounters every woman and every man, even today.”.

“What hunger do we feel, and what does this nation yearn for today? The motto chosen for my visit is ‘Christ, Light of Equatorial Guinea, Towards a Future of Hope’. Perhaps this is precisely the greatest hunger we feel today,” said Pope Leo XIII.

Gratitude to missionaries, priests and laity on the 170th anniversary of evangelization

The Pope expressed his gratitude to the missionaries, priests and lay people who helped spread the faith in the country, commemorating the 170th anniversary of its evangelization. He also quoted St. Paul VI, referring to his visit to Africa in 1969: “Africans, from now on, you are missionaries of yourselves. The Church of Christ is firmly rooted in this blessed land”.

Sr. Kebam Fien Blenderline, Cameroonian missionary 

Sister Kebam Fien Blenderline, a Cameroonian missionary of the Daughters of the Divine Shepherd, has been serving in Equatorial Guinea for almost two years. Speaking to OSV News, she explained that her mission focuses on evangelization, education and promoting the dignity of women.

“Over the years that I've been here working with young people, I think what they need to know is that it's good to serve the Lord, it's good to know the Lord, it's good to practice Christian values and to love God,” he said.

“This basilica reminds us of the Vatican,” he added. “It is an opportunity for the people of Guinea to truly value the presence of God in their lives through this basilica, through the images. The Blessed Sacrament is there and it is a place of spiritual retreat.”.

During the mass, the prayers of the liturgy were offered in Spanish and other local languages, such as Fang, Bisio and Kombe.

“Faithful to the Gospel, called to proclaim it.”

“Brothers and sisters, even when we face personal, family and social situations that are not always favorable, we can trust that the Lord is at work, making the good seed of his kingdom grow in ways we are unaware of, even when everything around us seems barren, and even in moments of darkness,” the Pope said .

“With that confidence, rooted in the power of his love rather than in our own merits, we are called to remain faithful to the Gospel, to proclaim it, to live it fully and to bear witness to it with joy,” he said.

Groundbreaking for a new cathedral in the City of Peace

During his visit to the basilica, the Pope also blessed the first stone of a new cathedral in Ciudad de la Paz, the new capital of Equatorial Guinea, where approximately 75% of its 1.67 million inhabitants are Catholic.

After Mass, Leo XIV visited the Pope Francis School of Technology before heading to Bata, the country's largest coastal city, where he prayed at a memorial honoring the victims of the 2021 explosion that killed more than 100 people.

To young people: “the Church needs your enthusiasm!”

In the midst of a black storm that did not affect the joy of thousands of young people and families gathered at the Bata stadium, which hosted the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations, Pope Leo encouraged, asking “who is afraid of the rain, the Church needs your enthusiasm!.

“Dear brothers and sisters, I greet you with great joy and thank the Bishop for his kind words. I thank you all for your warm welcome and your enthusiasm, which manifests the joy of your faith,” said the Vicar of Christ at the beginning of his speech, which answered the testimonies that were heard.

Its values: service, unity, hospitality, trust...

The Pope referred first of all to the ancient and noble values that animate the life of young Equatoguineans: “service, unity, hospitality, trust and celebration. This is the luminous and challenging legacy of which you, dear young people, are called to be, with faith, the foundation of your future and that of this land. The future is yours!”.

Alicia spoke of the importance of “being faithful to one's duties and contributing, through daily work, to the good of the family and society”. Francisco Martin gave testimony referring to the call to the priesthood, and “opened a window to the beautiful reality of so many young people who give themselves totally to God for the salvation of their brothers and sisters,” the Pope said.

The Pontiff said: “if you feel that Christ is calling you to follow him on a path of special consecration - as priests, religious men and women, catechists - do not be afraid to follow in his footsteps: as he himself assured you - and I also want to tell you firmly here today - you will receive “a hundredfold and [...] eternal life” ( Mt 19:29)”.

Vocation to marriage, “a path to sanctity”.”

Following the words of Purificacion and Jaime Antonio, he encouraged them to “entrust themselves to Him so that their families may grow in unity, embrace life as a gift to be treasured and educate them to find the Lord, the Lord who is the Way, the Truth and the Life”.

Leo XIV then referred in his speech to the “exciting mission of being spouses and parents, a covenant to be lived day by day, in which you rediscover yourselves always new for each other, promoters, together with God, of the miracle of life and builders of happiness, for yourselves and for your children”.

“Prepare to live this vocation as a path of true love, which grows in freedom, a path of hope born of the knowledge that God will not abandon you, a path of holiness that always seeks the good and happiness of others,” the Holy Father added.

Protecting and caring for the family and its values

Victor Antonio reminded us that welcoming life requires love, commitment and care, and these words, from his adolescent lips, should make us reflect seriously on the importance of protecting and caring for the family and the values learned in it. Let us cultivate them, live them and bear witness to them, even when doing so requires sacrifice, or when, as Jaime Antonio and Purificacion said, judgments, prejudices and stereotypes try to undermine their value.”. 

Finally, the Pope asked us to let ourselves be inspired “by the beauty of love” and to bear “witness every day that to love is beautiful, that the greatest joys, in every circumstance, come from knowing how to give and from giving ourselves to others, especially when we help those most in need. The light of charity, cultivated in our homes and lived in faith, can truly transform the world”.

To the inmates at Bata: “God never abandons you.”

A couple of hours earlier, in the Bata prison in Equatorial Guinea, Pope Leo listened to an emotional performance by the inmates, to whom he spontaneously addressed at first: “God never abandons you!”, as reported on the X network by Paulina Guzik, @Guzik_Paulina, international editor of OSV News.

One of the inmates, on behalf of the community, said, “Your support and blessing will give us strength to move forward. We want to be responsible citizens and contribute to the welfare of our community.”. 

“Each one of us, with our unique stories, our mistakes and our sufferings, remains precious in the eyes of the Lord. We can affirm this with certainty, because Jesus revealed it to us in every encounter, in every gesture and in every word. Even when he was arrested, condemned and executed without having committed any crime, he loved us to the end,” the Pope noted.

“In doing so, he showed us that he believed in the power of love to change even the hardest hearts.” “An authentic justice does not seek to punish but to help,” the Successor of Peter said in another moment, at an event in which the inmates danced and sang, as he spoke to them of hope, change and that “it is always possible to get up again, to learn and become a new person.”.

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- Courtney Mares is Vatican editor for OSV News. Follow her on X @catholicourtney.