Nigeria’s president, Bola Tinubu, is to depart Abuja for Rome, the capital of Italy, on Saturday at the invitation of Pope Leo XIV.
The president will attend a solemn mass marking the beginning of the pontificate of His Holiness Pope Leo XIV, the 267th Bishop of Rome and the new leader of the Roman Catholic Church.
In the papal invitation sent by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Pope Leo XIV underscores the need for President Tinubu’s physical presence at a moment he views as of particular importance for the Catholic Church and the world afflicted by many tensions and conflicts.
Pope Leo stressed that Nigeria is particularly dear to him, as he worked in the Apostolic Nunciature in Lagos in the 1980s.
President Tinubu is to be accompanied on the visit by the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, Archbishop of Owerri and President of Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria, Archbishop Lucius Ugorji, Archbishop Alfred Martins of Lagos and Ignatius Kaigama of Abuja.
A statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, reveals the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Mathew Hassan Kukah, will also be in the president’s entourage.
Pope Leo XIV, formerly Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, will be formally installed as the new leader of the Roman Catholic Church on Sunday, May 18, at St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican.
President Tinubu is expected back in Abuja on Tuesday, May 20.
