President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will depart Abuja for Rome, Italy, on Saturday, following an official invitation from Pope Leo XIV to attend a special Mass marking the beginning of his papacy.
This was disclosed in a statement released on Thursday by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga. According to the statement, the President will be accompanied by a delegation of senior Catholic leaders and government officials as Nigeria joins the global Catholic community for this historic event.
The invitation, extended by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin on behalf of Pope Leo XIV, underscores what the pontiff described as “a moment of particular importance for the Catholic Church and a world afflicted by many tensions and conflicts.”
Pope Leo XIV, formerly Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, made a personal reference to Nigeria, recalling his service at the Apostolic Nunciature in Lagos during the 1980s. “Your great nation is particularly dear to me,” the Pope noted in his message to President Tinubu.
Joining the President’s delegation are Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu; Archbishop Lucius Ugorji, President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria; Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama of Abuja; Archbishop Alfred Martins of Lagos; and Bishop Mathew Hassan Kukah of the Sokoto Diocese.
The papal inauguration ceremony is scheduled for Sunday, May 18, 2025, at St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City. Pope Leo XIV, who was elected by the College of Cardinals 17 days after the passing of Pope Francis on April 21, becomes the 267th Bishop of Rome and the first American Pope in history, now leading the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.
President Tinubu is expected to return to Abuja on Tuesday, May 20, 2025.
