Emmanuel Akinwotu

Pope Leo was greeted by Equatorial Guinea's President Teodoro Obiang.

He's been in power for decades, even during the country's only other papal visit by Pope John Paul II in 1982.

Critics have warned Pope Leo's visit could be seen as an endorsement of Obiang, who along with his son leads a government accused of widespread repression and corruption.

Ahead of the pontiff's visit, government workers alleged deductions were made to their salaries to fund logistics.

Throughout his 11-day trip in Africa, Pope Leo has sharply criticised despotism and corruption, urging African leaders to, quote, break the chain of corruption, a message that few in Equatorial Guinea can express without fear of arrest.

Emmanuel Akinwotu, NPR News, Lagos.

Pope Leo has sought to return the focus of his 11-day tour in Africa away from growing tensions with President Trump.

In Angola, his third stop on the tour, he said some of his statements against war had been interpreted as a direct response to attacks against him by President Trump last week.

Nearly half of Angola's almost 40 million people are Catholic.

And on Sunday, Leo visited a sanctuary where enslaved Africans were forcibly baptized before being taken to the Americas.

He made a speech acknowledging the, quote, sorrow and great suffering, but stopped short of directly referencing slavery or the church's role in it.

Emmanuel Akimotu, NPR News, Lagos.

Pope Leo is the first pope to arrive in Algeria, Africa's largest country.

Catholics are a tiny minority among the largely Muslim population.

But Algeria is the birthplace of the Order of St.

Augustine, to which Pope Leo belongs.

The trip, however, comes amid escalating tensions with the White House over the war in Iran, criticized by Pope Leo.

And on Sunday night, President Trump attacked the pope.

And while still on an aircraft landing in Algeria, Pope Leo responded.

Emmanuel Akimotu, NPR News, Lagos.