By Abdul Lauya
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu arrived in Rome on Saturday ahead of the inaugural mass for Pope Leo XIV, the newly elected head of the Roman Catholic Church.
The Nigerian leader is among a host of world leaders expected to attend the solemn ceremony marking the beginning of the pontificate of the 267th Bishop of Rome, scheduled for Sunday, May 18.
Tinubu’s aircraft touched down at Mario De Bernardo Military Airport at 6:00 p.m. local time.
He was received by Nigeria’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, alongside Vatican officials and representatives from the Nigerian Embassy in Italy.
The visit follows an official invitation extended by the Vatican, conveyed by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Holy See’s Secretary of State.
A statement by presidential spokesman, Bayo Onanuga in Rome said, the invitation emphasized the 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 recalled his earlier ties with Nigeria, saying, “Your great nation is particularly dear to me as I worked in the Apostolic Nunciature in Lagos during the 1980s.”
President Tinubu is accompanied by several senior figures from Nigeria’s Catholic hierarchy, including Archbishop Lucius Ugorji of Owerri, who also serves as President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria.
Others are Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama of Abuja; Archbishop Alfred Martins of Lagos; and Bishop Mathew Hassan Kukah of the Sokoto Diocese.
The Papal mass is expected to draw global attention as Pope Leo XIV formally assumes spiritual leadership of the world’s estimated 1.3 billion Catholics.
