President Bola Tinubu will travel to Rome, Italy, on Saturday to attend the inauguration mass of Pope Leo XIV, the new leader of the Roman Catholic Church.

Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, announced this in a statement on Thursday.

He noted that President Tinubu will travel with senior Catholic leaders to attend a special Mass marking the beginning of Pope Leo XIV’s tenure as the 267th Bishop of Rome.

According to Onanuga, Cardinal Pietro Parolin sent the invitation from Pope Leo XIV, who said the ceremony reflects “a moment of particular importance for the Catholic Church and the world afflicted by many tensions and conflicts”.

According to the statement, President Tinubu’s delegation will include the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu; Archbishop Lucius Ugorji of Owerri and President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria; Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama of Abuja; Alfred Martins of Lagos; and the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Mathew Hassan Kukah.

The statement added that President Tinubu is expected to return to Abuja on Tuesday, 20th May.

The mass, scheduled for Sunday, May 18, at St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican, will mark the formal beginning of Pope Leo’s pontificate.

Pope Leo, who is the first Pope from the United States was elected by the Cardinals during Conclave 17 days after the death of his predecessor, Pope Francis, on 21 April. He is to lead the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.