Pope to visit Ireland next year?

A papal visit to Ireland in 2012 now seems likely, according to press reports in that country.

Ranking Vatican officials were reportedly in Dublin last week. Their presence was taken as an indication that plans for a visit by Pope Benedict XVI are beginning to take shape.

For several months, Irish Church officials have suggested that the Pope might travel to Dublin for the International Eucharistic Congress, which will be held there in June of next year. There is also speculation that the papal visit would include a trip to Northern Ireland, making Benedict XVI the first Roman Pontiff ever to travel there.