Minister of State, Foreign Affairs, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, has explained the reason behind President Bola Tinubu’s invitation to Rome by Pope Leo XIV.

Ekwutosblog reported that President Tinubu departed Abuja for Rome, the capital of Italy, on Saturday at the invitation of Pope Leo XIV.

Tinubu, who was accompanied by top Catholic leaders, is attending a solemn 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.

The Papal invitation sent by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Pope Leo XIV underscored the need for President Tinubu’s physical presence at the event.

Ekwutosblog reports that long before he became a household name in the Vatican, Robert Prevost, simply Fr. Prevost, and Prior General of the Augustinian Order from 2001 to 2013, visited Nigeria nine times.

When he left the post of Prior General, Provost maintained a connection with the west African country.

He was invited to Abuja in 2016 for the Mid-Chapter Assembly of the Nigerian Augustinians while he served as Bishop of Chiclayo in Peru.

Just before he became the Pope, Cardinal Robert Prevost was expected in Nigeria in July this year for the ordination of new priests in the Augustinian order.

And Bianca, who appeared on NTA Weekend File from Rome immediately after President Tinubu landed in Rome, said it was his connection to Nigeria that made Pope Leo XIV request the physical presence of the Nigerian leader.

Mrs Ojukwu, who pointed to the connection between Pope Leo XIV and Nigeria, also noted that Nigeria accounts for one of the fastest-growing Catholic populations in the world.

She noted that Pope Leo XIV is not a stranger to Nigeria with his deep knowledge of the streets and chapels in Abuja and Maiduguri.

Speaking on how the Papal invitation and the presence of Nigeria led by the President could build a good relationship between the west African nation and the Vatican, Mrs Ojukwu added, “Of course, the new pontiff is the spiritual leader of over 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide. As he had already mentioned, we’re living in a world punctuated by so many tensions, so many conflicts, so much unrest.

“Nigeria’s Catholic community understand the importance and the stabilizing effect the pontiff will bring to the New World Order.

“We of course, appreciate the fact that he has considered Nigeria a very, very important country in Africa, being, of course, the most populous nation in in in in Africa.

“And with the President’s foreign policy thrust, with the President’s concentration on ensuring that one of the key elements policing peace across the African continent, and also ensuring that there is religious tolerance across the country.

“I think it’s particularly significant that being a Muslim, he accepted this invitation to join in the Pontifical mass tomorrow.

“It says a lot about his approach to ensuring that he’s a president for all Nigerians, irrespective of creed, or religious affiliations.”

Tinubu was accompanied by Archbishop Lucius Ugorji of Owerri, the president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, Archbishop of Abuja, Ignatius Kaigama, Archbishop of Lagos, Alfred Martins and Bishop Matthew Kukah of Sokoto Diocese.