By Jemimah Wellington, JKNewsMedia Reporter
NIGERIA’s PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu has arrived in Rome for a high-level gathering of global leaders at the Vatican, where he will witness the installation of Pope Leo XIV, the 267th Bishop of Rome.
The ceremony is scheduled to take place on Sunday, 18 May, at St Peter’s Square.
Touching down at Mario De Bernardo Military Airport at 6:00 p.m. local time, President Tinubu was welcomed by Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, Nigeria’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, along with dignitaries from the Nigerian Embassy and Vatican City.
The President’s visit follows a formal invitation extended by Pope Leo XIV through Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State of the Vatican.
The invitation emphasised the importance of President Tinubu’s physical presence “at this moment of particular importance for the Catholic Church and the world afflicted by many tensions and conflicts.”
President Tinubu leads a delegation that includes senior figures from Nigeria’s Catholic leadership.
Among them are Archbishop Lucius Ugorji of Owerri, who also heads 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.
Pope Leo XIV, formerly Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, was elected following a conclave convened 17 days after the death of his predecessor, Pope Francis, who passed away on 21 April.
The new pontiff holds historical significance as the first American-born Pope and now assumes leadership over the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.
In his message to President Tinubu, Pope Leo XIV expressed a personal connection to Nigeria, recalling his earlier service in the Apostolic Nunciature in Lagos during the 1980s.
He described Nigeria as a nation “particularly dear” to him, deepening the symbolic weight of Tinubu’s presence at the ceremony.
