Tinubu arrives in Rome for Pope Leo XIV’s inauguration

President Bola Tinubu on Saturday arrived in Rome, Italy for the inauguration of Pope Leo XIV.

The New Daily Prime earlier reported that Tinubu was invited to attend the inauguration of the 267th Bishop of Rome and the new leader of the Roman Catholic Church.

The solemn installation mass is scheduled for Sunday at the Vatican.

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Tinubu touched down at the Mario De Bernardo Military Airport at 6pm local time, where he was received by Nigeria’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, along with Vatican officials and representatives from the Nigerian Embassy.

His visit follows a formal invitation from the Vatican, conveyed through Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Secretary of State.

The invitation highlighted the symbolic importance of Tinubu’s presence ‘at this moment of particular importance for the Catholic Church and the world afflicted by many tensions and conflicts.’

In his message, Pope Leo XIV noted his personal connection to Nigeria.

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

Accompanying Tinubu to the Vatican are several senior members of the Catholic Church in Nigeria, including the Archbishop of Owerri and President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria, Archbishop Lucius Ugorji; Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama of Abuja; Archbishop Alfred Martins of Lagos; and the Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Mathew Hassan Kukah.