Pope to visit UK
Pope Benedict XVI is going to visit the UK next year, according to reports. It will be 28 years since the UK has had a papal visit.
Although Downing Street has not confirmed the news, the Vatican news services said that Prime Minister Gordon Brown extended the invitation during a private audience in February.
During his visit, it is expected that the Pope will meet the Queen – who is head of the Church of England – and possibly be present when Cardinal John Henry Newman is canonised.
It is unlikely that the Pope will be visiting Northern Ireland.
