Tinubu attends Pope Leo XIV’s inauguration in Rome

President Bola Tinubu joined other world leaders in Rome, Italy on Sunday for the installation 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.

A video shared on social media by the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) revealed the moment Tinubu arrived at the Pope’s first official mass and inauguration.

Tinubu’s visit to Rome is in honour of the new Pope’s invitation, conveyed by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State.

On Saturday Tinubu was received at the Mario De Bernardo Military Airport by Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, and officials from Vatican City and the Nigerian Embassy after the plane touched down at 6 pm local time.

The president’s entourage includes the Archbishop of Owerri and President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria, Archbishop Lucius Ugorji, Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama of Abuja, and Alfred Martins of Lagos.

Mathew Hassan Kukah, the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, is also in the president’s entourage.

At the installation mass, Pope Leo XIV set the tone for his papacy with a call to stop exploiting nature and marginalising the poor.

In front of dignitaries, including US Vice President Vance and Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelensky, he gave a homily calling for the Church to be a transformational force in a world of division and hatred.