VATICAN SOURCES last night confirmed that Pope Benedict XVI will make an official state visit to Britain next year, probably in September. Although British media speculation yesterday suggested that the pope might also add an Irish “leg” to his visit, in particular going to Northern Ireland, Vatican sources last night ruled out this possibility.
The intended visit, timed to coincide with the beatification of Cardinal John Henry Newman, is scheduled to take in stops in London, Birmingham, Oxford and Edinburgh.
The visit, the first by a pope to Britain since John Paul II in 1982, marks the significant improvement in recent years in relations between the Holy See and Whitehall. It is expected the pope will be received by Queen Elizabeth and the British prime minister, while he is also likely to be invited to address a joint sitting of the British houses of parliament.
Vatican insiders point out that the pope sees a visit to Northern Ireland as too important to be “tagged on” but would constitute a pastoral visit in its own right, perhaps in 2012.