USAfricaonline.com : President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has arrived Rome, the capital of Italy, on Saturday, May 17, at the invitation of Pope Leo XIV. Tinubu joined other global leaders at the solemn mass commemorating the commencement of the pontificate of His Holiness Pope Leo XIV, the 267th Bishop of Rome and the newly appointed head of the Roman Catholic Church. Attending alongside other political heavyweights are the incumbent Vice President of the United States, JD Vance. He is attending with America’s chief diplomat, JD Vance, vice president of the United States
Marco Rubio, U.S. secretary of state of the United States
Mark Carney, Prime Minister of Canada
Rodney Williams, governor general of Antigua and Barbuda
Teresa Susana Subieta Serrano, ambassador of Bolivia to the Holy See
Javier Milei, president of Argentina
Joseph Curry, ambassador of the Bahamas to the Holy See
Milton Inniss, ambassador of Barbados to the Holy See
Geraldo Alckmin, vice president of Brazil
Manuel José Ossandón, president of the Senate of Chile
Gustavo Petro, president of Colombia
Arnoldo André Tinoco, minister for foreign affairs and worship of Costa Rica
Salvador Valdés Mesa, vice president of Cuba
In a news release signed by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President (Information & Strategy), Tinubu, a Muslim will be accompanied by top Catholic leaders to the “solemn mass marking the beginning of the Pontificate of His Holiness Pope Leo XIV, the 267th Bishop of Rome and the new leader of the Roman Catholic Church.
In the Papal invitation sent by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Pope Leo XIV underscored the need for President Tinubu’s physical presence “at this moment of particular importance for the Catholic Church and the world afflicted by many tensions and conflicts.
Pope Leo further stressed: “Your great nation is particularly dear to me as I worked in the Apostolic Nunciature in Lagos during the 1980s.”
President Tinubu’s entourage includes the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, Archbishop of Owerri and President of Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria, Archbishop Lucius Ugorji, Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama of Abuja, and Alfred Martins of Lagos.
The Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Mathew Hassan Kukah, is also in the president’s entourage.
Pope Leo XIV, formerly Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, will be formally installed to the exalted office on Sunday, May 18, at St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican.
The Conclave of Cardinals elected him 27 days after his predecessor, Pope Francis, died on April 21.
President Tinubu will return to Abuja on Tuesday, May 20.
