President Bola Tinubu is set to depart Abuja for Rome on Saturday, following an invitation from Pope Leo XIV.
According to a statement by the President’s spokesman, Mr Bayo Onanuga, President Tinubu will be accompanied by senior Catholic leaders to attend a special mass marking the commencement of the pontificate of Pope Leo XIV, the 267th Bishop of Rome and newly elected head of the Roman Catholic Church.
The Papal invitation, extended through Cardinal Pietro Parolin, emphasised the significance of President Tinubu’s presence “at this moment of particular importance for the Catholic Church and the world afflicted by many tensions and conflicts.”
Pope Leo XIV further remarked, “Your great nation is particularly dear to me, as I served at the Apostolic Nunciature in Lagos during the 1980s.”
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President Tinubu’s delegation includes Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs; Archbishop Lucius Ugorji, Archbishop of Owerri and President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria; Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama of Abuja; and Archbishop Alfred Martins of Lagos. Also accompanying the President is Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto.
Pope Leo XIV, formerly Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, will be formally installed as Pontiff on Sunday, 18 May, during a ceremony at St Peter’s Square in the Vatican.
He was elected by the College of Cardinals 27 days after the passing of his predecessor, Pope Francis, on 21 April.
President Tinubu is expected to return to Abuja on Tuesday, 20 May.
