Pope Leo XIV’s installation is being attended by President Bola Tinubu in Rome, Italy, on Sunday.
President Tinubu was met by Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, the minister of state for foreign affairs, Vatican City, and Nigerian Embassy officials at the Mario De Bernardo Military Airport at 6 p.m., according to a statement from the presidential spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga.
Pope Leo XIV, who was accompanied by his successor, Pope Francis, to an invitation to Tinubu, who was elected by the College of Cardinals on April 21 during a conclave 17 days after his death.
Onanuga had previously disclosed that senior Catholic leaders from the nation will be gathered for the event in a statement he issued on Thursday.
Also read: The Vatican holds the Pope Leo XIV inauguration mass on May 18;
The President’s delegation will include Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama of Abuja, Alfred Martins of Lagos, the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Mathew Hassan Kukah, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, Archbishop Lucius Ugorji of Owerri, President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria, and Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama of Abuja.
Pope Leo XIV received the invitation from Cardinal Pietro Parolin, who said the event was “a moment of particular significance for the Catholic Church and the world afflicted by many tensions and conflicts.”
He added that the Pope also mentioned personal ties to Nigeria, saying that, while working at the Apostolic Nunciature in Lagos in the 1980s, “Your great nation is particularly dear to me.”
On May 18th, Leo XIV, formerly Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, will be formally ordained at St. Peter’s Square.
Source: Channels TV
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