President Bola Tinubu will travel to Rome, Italy, on Saturday at the invitation of Pope Leo XIV.
According to a statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the President will attend a special Mass marking the beginning of Pope Leo XIV’s tenure as the 267th Bishop of Rome.
Cardinal Pietro Parolin sent the invitation from Pope Leo XIV, who described the ceremony as “a moment of particular importance for the Catholic Church and the world afflicted by many tensions and conflicts”.
The Pope also expressed a personal connection to Nigeria, stating, “Your great nation is particularly dear to me as I worked in the Apostolic Nunciature in Lagos during the 1980s.”
President Tinubu’s delegation would include senior Catholic leaders, such as: Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, Archbishop Lucius Ugorji of Owerri and President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria, Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama of Abuja, Alfred Martins of Lagos, Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Mathew Hassan Kukah
Pope Leo XIV, formerly Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, will be formally installed as Pope on Sunday, May 18, at St Peter’s Square in the Vatican.
He is the first Pope from the United States and was elected by the Cardinals 17 days after the death of his predecessor, Pope Francis, on April 21.
He will lead the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.
President Tinubu is expected to return to Abuja on Tuesday, May 20, according to the statement.
