By Ghazali Ibrahim
As Catholics around the world celebrate the historic election of Robert Francis Prevost as Pope Leo XIV, Nigerians are reflecting on a nearly decade-old visit that connected the new pontiff to the giant of Africa.
Photos and videos have resurfaced online showing the then-Bishop of Chiclayo, Peru, visiting Nigeria’s capital city, Abuja, in 2016.
The visit, which occurred on September 29 of that year, was part of his role as a global leader of the Order of St. Augustine, a Catholic religious order focused on community life and service in the spirit of St. Augustine.
A photo posted on Prevost’s verified X account showed him standing among Catholic leaders, some of whom were Nigerian clergy dressed in traditional black and white cassocks.
The caption, translated from Spanish, read: “For the first time, General Chapter of the Order of St. Augustine on the African continent, Abuja, Nigeria.”
This historic assembly marked the second time the General Chapter of the Augustinians was held on African soil as he was reported to visited Jos, Nigeria twenty years ago.
At the time, Prevost had already built a strong reputation within the order, having served as its Prior General from 2001 to 2013.
The emergence of these images has struck a chord with Nigerian Catholics, who now see their connection to the newly elected pope as more than symbolic.
Pope Leo XIV, the first American pope and the 267th leader of the Roman Catholic Church, was elected on May 8, 2025.
His predecessor, Pope Francis, never visited Nigeria during his papacy, though he traveled to several other African countries, including Kenya, Uganda, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and South Sudan.
The last pope to visit Nigeria was Pope John Paul II, who made two trips to the country in 1982 and 1998.
With Pope Leo XIV’s prior engagement in Nigeria now in the spotlight, many are wondering whether a return to the country as pontiff could soon be on the horizon.
