POPE LEO XIV INVITES PRESIDENT TINUBU TO HIS INAUGURATION ON SUNDAY |LAGOS EYE NEWS

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will depart Abuja for Rome, Italy, on Saturday following an official invitation from His Holiness Pope Leo XIV.

President Tinubu will be attending a solemn mass at St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican to mark the formal inauguration of Pope Leo XIV as the 267th Bishop of Rome and new leader of the Roman Catholic Church.

In a letter conveying the papal invitation, Cardinal Pietro Parolin emphasized the significance of President Tinubu’s presence at the event, describing it as “a moment of particular importance for the Catholic Church and the world, afflicted by many tensions and conflicts.”

Pope Leo XIV also expressed his fondness for Nigeria, recalling his time in the Apostolic Nunciature in Lagos during the 1980s: “Your great nation is particularly dear to me,” he noted.

President Tinubu will be accompanied by several prominent Nigerian Catholic leaders, including the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu; the Archbishop of Owerri and President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria, Archbishop Lucius Ugorji; Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama of Abuja; and Archbishop Alfred Martins of Lagos.

Also on the delegation is the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah.

Pope Leo XIV, formerly Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, was elected by the Conclave of Cardinals 27 days after the passing of Pope Francis on April 21. His installation ceremony will take place on Sunday, May 18.

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