President Bola Tinubu has arrived in Rome to attend the installation of Pope Leo XIV at St. Peter’s Square on Sunday.
According to his spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga, Tinubu was invited by the new Pope, who described the ceremony as “a moment of particular importance for the Catholic Church and the world afflicted by many tensions and conflicts.”
Pope Leo XIV, formerly Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, is the first American to lead the Catholic Church. He recalled his ties to Nigeria, saying, “Your great nation is particularly dear to me as I worked in the Apostolic Nunciature in Lagos during the 1980s.”
Tinubu is accompanied by top Catholic leaders from Nigeria, including Archbishops Lucius Ugorji and Ignatius Kaigama, Bishop Alfred Martins, and Bishop Matthew Kukah.
