President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will on Saturday depart Abuja for Rome, Italy, to attend the inauguration of the newly elected Pope Leo XIV, ABN TV reports.
The President’s visit follows an official invitation from the Vatican, extended through Cardinal Pietro Parolin, emphasizing the significance of Nigeria’s representation at a time of global tension and transformation within the Catholic Church.
Pope Leo XIV, formerly Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, will be formally installed as the 267th Bishop of Rome and spiritual leader of the Roman Catholic Church on Sunday, May 18, at St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican. He was elected 27 days after the death of Pope Francis on April 21.
In the invitation message, the Pope recalled his time in Nigeria during the 1980s, when he served at the Apostolic Nunciature in Lagos, stating: “Your great nation is particularly dear to me.”
President Tinubu will be accompanied by a high-powered delegation including the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu; Archbishop Lucius Ugorji, President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria; Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama of Abuja; Archbishop Alfred Martins of Lagos; and the Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Mathew Hassan Kukah.
The President is expected to return to Nigeria on Tuesday, May 20.
