President Bola Tinubu will travel from Abuja to Rome, Italy, on Saturday following an invitation from Pope Leo XIV. According to a statement issued on Thursday by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, President Tinubu will attend a solemn mass marking the beginning of the Pontificate of His Holiness Pope Leo XIV, the 267th Bishop of Rome and head of the Roman Catholic Church. The statement, titled ‘Pope Leo XIV invites President Tinubu to his inauguration on Sunday’, noted that the invitation was formally extended through Cardinal Pietro Parolin. Pope Leo XIV emphasized the importance of the President’s presence “at this moment of particular importance for the Catholic Church and a world grappling with numerous tensions and conflicts.”
President Tinubu will be accompanied by several prominent Catholic figures, including the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu; Archbishop Lucius Ugorji, President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria and Archbishop of Owerri; Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama of Abuja; and Archbishop Alfred Martins of Lagos. Bishop Matthew Kukah of the Sokoto Diocese is also part of the delegation.
Pope Leo XIV, formerly Cardinal Robert Prevost, will be officially installed on Sunday, May 18, at St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican. His election came 27 days after the passing of Pope Francis on April 21.
President Tinubu is expected to return to Abuja on Tuesday, May 20.