Breaking: Catholic Pope Leo XIV Invites President Tinubu

• President Bola Tinubu has been invited to Rome, the capital of Italy, by the newly elected Pope Leo XIV for his inauguration on Sunday, May 18
• In his invitation, Pope Leo XIV explained that the physical presence of President Tinubu is needed because the event was a great relevance for the Catholic Church and the world
• Pope Leo XIV, in his invitation letter to Tinubu, explained that Nigeria was a great nation that was dear to him, recalling that he worked in the Apostolic Nunciature in Lagos during the 1980s.

Vatican, Italy - Newly elected Pope Leo XIV has invited President Bola Tinubu to his inauguration scheduled for Sunday, May 18. The presidency explained that the president will depart Abuja for Rome, the capital of Italy, on Saturday, May 17.

According to the statement signed by Tinubu's special adviser on information and strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the Nigerian president will be attending the solemn mass, which will mark the beginning of the Pontificate of His Holiness Pope Leo XIV.

The new Pope is the 267th Bishop of Rome and the new leader of the Roman Catholic Church. The invitation was said to have been sent to President Tinubu through Cardinal Pietro Parolin, where Pope Leo XIV personally requested the physical presence of the Nigerian president.

Pope Leo XIV explained that Tinubu's physical presence was important because the event was a great relevance for the Catholic Church and the world, which has been afflicted by many tensions and conflicts.

The Pope's invitation letter to Tinubu reportedly reads in part:

"Your great nation is particularly dear to me as I worked in the Apostolic Nunciature in Lagos during the 1980s."

Catholic bishops on Tinubu's entourage

According to the presidency, President Tinubu will be joined on the trip by the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, and the Archbishop of Owerri and President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Nigeria, Archbishop Lucius Ugorji.

Others on the entourage list are the Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama of Abuja, Alfred Martins of Lagos, and the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Mathew Hassan Kukah.

Pope Leo XIV, who was formerly known as Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, will be officially installed in the respected office of the Pope at St. Peter's Square in the Vatican on Sunday, May 18. President Tinubu was scheduled to return to Nigeria on Tuesday, May 20.

The full statement of the presidency is here:

Emergence of Pope Leo XIV

69-year-old Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was elected by conclave as the new Pope of the Catholic Church after the funeral rites of Pope Francis, who died at the age of 88 years.

Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, is the first Pope from the United States of America, USA, in 2000 years. Born in Chicago in 1955, the new Pontiff also serves as the Pontifical Commission for Latin America.

Prevost was described as a moderate who was close to the late Pope Francis and was said to have spent his missionary years in Peru.

List of popes in the last 110 years

Legit.ng earlier reported that Pope Francis has become the 10th leader of the world of the Catholic Church in the last 110 years in history.

The late Francis died on Monday, April 21, which was the same day as Easter Monday, just after delivering Easter Sunday's sermon.

The list of popes who have ruled the Catholic Church world in the last 110 years, from Pope Pius X to Francis, has been compiled.

Source: Legit.ng