The auxiliary bishop of Armagh, Dr Gerard Clifford, has refused to be drawn on whether St Brigid's Shrine at Faughart, Co. Louth, would feature in the itinerary for a papal visit to Ireland. When asked to comment on a request by Faughart's parish priest that the patron saint's birthplace be included in the itinerary should Pope Benedict make a trip to Ireland, the bishop joked that he would not have far to travel from his home - he lives at Ravensdale - if the Pope did decide to stop at Faughart.
But he declined to speculate further on whether the popular site outside Dundalk would be a possible location or a papal visit stop-off.
"Pope John Paul II had said if he came back he would go to the North, including Armagh, and I would be still hopeful that Pope Benedict would complete that pilgrimage," said Bishop Clifford. The late pontiff was a fan of Saint Brigid.
Bishop Clifford said that if the present Pope were to visit Ireland he would think that out of necessity he would come to the archdiocese (of Armagh) and I would love to see him do that.
"However, any decisions on the itinerary would be made at national level," Dr Clifford stressed.
Faughart Parish priest Fr Christy McElwee made the call to have any proposed papal visit to Ireland include Faughart on its itinerary during a Mass celebrated by Cardinal Seán Brady to mark the 75th National Pilgrimage to the Shrine.
He said he had only one request to make of Cardinal Brady, which was that if Pope Benedict was coming to Ireland that he push for him to come to the shrine at Faughart.
Fr McElwee's remarks were greeted by the congregation at the oratory for the pilgrimage with a huge round of applause.
Speculation about a papal visit to Ireland has risen since Dublin has been named as the venue for a Eucharistic Congress in 2012.
When Pope John Paul visited Ireland in 1979, he was advised against including Northern Ireland on his itinerary on security grounds because of the intensity of the Troubles violence.
He did however, include Drogheda, in the archdiocese of Armagh (as well as Dublin, Knock and Galway) on the venues for his public appearances. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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