Secretary for Relations with States and International Organisations at the Holy See, Arch. Paul Gallagher, on Saturday hinted that Pope Leo XIV may visit Nigeria in the coming years.
The Vatican’s foreign minister revealed this to journalists after a meeting with President Bola Tinubu at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa, Abuja.
“We have had a constant presence of the Nuncio over the years and visits from several of the Holy Fathers, and who knows, maybe in a few years’ time, Pope Leo will come to visit Nigeria as well. But that’s all for the future,” Gallagher said after the meeting.
Before his election in May 2025, Pope Leo XIV reportedly visited Nigeria nine times as head of the Augustinian Catholic community worldwide.
According to records, the Pope, then Father Robert Francis Prevost, in his capacity as Prior General of the Augustinian Order, and later as Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, visited Nigeria on at least nine between 2001 and 2016, travelling to Lagos, Jos, Benin, Bida, Ibusa, Iwaro Oka-Akoko, Kano, Warri, Kaduna and Abuja.
In April 2026 the Pope embarked on his first apostolic trip to Africa, a 10-day journey covering Algeria, Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea.
However, the visit did not include Nigeria which is home to over 30 million Catholics, houses over 10,000 Catholic priests, and the largest number of Archbishops on the continent.
