President Bola Tinubu will travel to Rome, Italy, on Saturday to attend Pope Leo XIV’s inauguration mass as the new leader of the Roman Catholic Church.
According to a statement issued Thursday by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the travel is at the Vatican’s request, following the election of Pope Leo XIV by the Conclave of Cardinals.
The liturgy, slated for Sunday, May 18, at St Peter’s Square in the Vatican, will mark the formal beginning of Pope Leo’s pontificate.
According to the presidency, in a letter given to Tinubu by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Pope hailed the Nigerian president’s presence as important “at this moment of particular importance for the Catholic Church and the world afflicted by many tensions and conflicts”.
The pontiff also recalled his time in Nigeria, saying, “Your great nation is particularly dear to me as I worked in the Apostolic Nunciature in Lagos during the 1980s.”
Tinubu will be accompanied by top Catholic leaders in Nigeria, including Archbishop Lucius Ugorji of Owerri, President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria; Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama of Abuja; Archbishop Alfred Martins of Lagos; and Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah of Sokoto.
The delegation will also include the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu.
Pope Leo XIV was elected 27 days after the death of Pope Francis on April 21.
Tinubu is scheduled to return to Abuja on Tuesday, May 20.
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Odiong: US-based Nigerian Catholic priest convicted over sexual assault")
