President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will on Saturday, 17 May 2025, depart Abuja for Rome to attend the inauguration mass of the newly elected head of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Leo XIV.
According to a press statement signed by Mr Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, the President will be attending the solemn mass at the invitation of the new Pontiff.
Pope Leo XIV, born Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, was elected by the Conclave of Cardinals 27 days after the death of his predecessor, Pope Francis, on April 21. He becomes the 267th Bishop of Rome and leader of the over 1.3 billion Catholics worldwide.
In a formal invitation sent through Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Pope Leo XIV noted the significance of President Tinubu’s presence. He wrote: “Your great nation is particularly dear to me as I worked in the Apostolic Nunciature in Lagos during the 1980s.”
The Pope added that the President’s attendance was crucial “at this moment of particular importance for the Catholic Church and the world afflicted by many tensions and conflicts.”
President Tinubu will be accompanied by a delegation of senior Catholic figures and officials, including the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu; President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria and Archbishop of Owerri, Archbishop Lucius Ugorji; Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama of Abuja; and Archbishop Alfred Martins of Lagos.
Also on the entourage is the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah, a respected cleric and public intellectual.
The inauguration mass is scheduled to take place on Sunday, 18 May 2025, at St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican.
President Tinubu is expected to return to Nigeria on Tuesday, 20 May.
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