President Bola Tinubu will travel to Rome, Italy, on Saturday to attend the inauguration of Pope Leo XIV, following an invitation from the new pontiff.
The ceremony, marking the beginning of Pope Leo XIV’s reign as the 267th Bishop of Rome, will take place on May 18 at St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican
Chief Bayo Onanuga, the President’s spokesman, said in a statement that in the Papal invitation sent by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Pope Leo underscored the need for Mr Tinubu’s physical presence “at this moment of particular importance for the Catholic Church and the world afflicted by many tensions and conflicts.
“Your great nation is particularly dear to me as I worked in the Apostolic Nunciature in Lagos during the 1980s”, Pope Leo said.
Meanwhile, Tinubu’s entourage includes Amb. Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Archbishop Lucius Ugorji, Archbishop of Owerri and President of Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria, Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama of Abuja, and Alfred Martins of Lagos.
Mathew Hassan Kukah, the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, is also in the president’s entourage.
Pope Leo XIV, formerly Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, will be formally installed to the exalted office on Sunday, May 18, at St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican.
The Conclave of Cardinals elected him 27 days after his predecessor, Pope Francis, died on April 21.
President Tinubu will return to Abuja on Tuesday, May 20.
