President Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea attended the canonization of Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul II in the Vatican last week and met with Pope Francis.
The President of Equatorial Guinea was one of the 24 heads of state, who attended the canonization, along with prime ministers and other senior representatives of countries and international institutions. There were more than ninety official delegations.
He was accompanied by Constancia Mangue de Obiang, the First Lady of Equatorial Guinea. Approximately one million people attended the ceremony.
Last year, President Obiang met with Pope Francis at the Vatican and exchanged with Vatican officials the instruments of ratification of an agreement with the Holy See on relations between the Catholic Church and the Republic of Equatorial Guinea. The agreement confirmed the good bilateral relations between the two states, recognized the legal personality of the church and its institutions, and covered canonical marriage, places of worship, educational institutions, and spiritual assistance to the Catholic faithful in hospitals and prisons.