President Tinubu to attend Pope Leo XIV’s inauguration in Rome

By Kunle Sanni

President Bola Tinubu will travel to Rome, Italy, on Saturday to attend the inauguration of Pope Leo XIV, following an official invitation from the Vatican.

According to a statement by presidential spokesperson Bayo Onanuga on Thursday, President Tinubu will join global leaders and top Catholic clerics for a solemn mass marking the beginning of the pontificate of Pope Leo XIV, the 267th Bishop of Rome and new head of the Roman Catholic Church. The ceremony is scheduled for Sunday, May 18, at St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican.

The invitation, extended by Cardinal Pietro Parolin on behalf of Pope Leo XIV, emphasized the symbolic importance of Nigeria’s presence at a time of global tension and conflict.

“Your great nation is particularly dear to me, as I worked in the Apostolic Nunciature in Lagos during the 1980s,” the Pope wrote.

President Tinubu will be accompanied by prominent members of the Nigerian Catholic hierarchy, including Archbishop Lucius Ugorji, President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria; Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama of Abuja; Archbishop Alfred Martins of Lagos; and Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah of the Sokoto Diocese. Also in the delegation is Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs.

Pope Leo XIV, formerly Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, was elected by the College of Cardinals 27 days after the death of Pope Francis on April 21. His election signals the beginning of a new era for the Roman Catholic Church.

President Tinubu is expected to return to Abuja on Tuesday, May 20.