Prince Charles is expected to reinforce an invitation to Pope Benedict XVI to visit Britain extended by Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, three weeks ago, when the prince visits the Vatican at the end of April. Vatican sources said a papal trip to Britain would include Northern Ireland, and that recent violence there had made a papal trip to appeal for peace more likely rather than less.
This week the Pope deplored the latest killings at his weekly audience, saying "I condemn in the strongest terms these abominable acts of terrorism which, apart from desecrating human life, seriously endanger the ongoing peace process in Northern Ireland". He added "I ask the Lord that no one will again give in to the horrendous temptation of violence".
There was confusion over Mr Brown's invitation to the Pope when a Vatican spokesman said that no such trip was under consideration. The Pope is to visit Africa next week and the Holy Land in May.
However Vatican officials later said it was simply a question of fitting a trip to Britain into the Pope's schedule.
Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, said "The Holy Father received the invitation from the British Prime Minister and he welcomed it with great attention. We have not yet accepted this invitation, which will be taken into serious consideration."
Mr Brown suggested the trip could coincide with the beatification of Cardinal John Henry Newman, the most celebrated Anglican convert to Roman Catholicism, who died in 1890. The beatification is expected later this year or early next year.
The last Pope to visit Britain was Benedict's predecessor, John Paul II, who in 1982 became the first pontiff ever to visit Canterbury Cathedral where he met Robert Runcie, the then Archbishop of Canterbury. He was also welcomed by the Queen at Buckingham Palace.
The Duchess of Cornwall will meet the Pope for the first time as the wife of the Prince of Wales during the Prince's visit to Rome. It will be the first time Prince Charles has been admitted to an audience at the Vatican since his divorce, the death of Princess Diana and his re-marriage.
In 1985 the prince and Diana visited Pope John Paul II in Rome, with the princess wearing a black veil as required by papal protocol. The prince, who has made frequent private trips to Italy - especially Tuscany - to pursue his interests in art and architecture, made an official visit to the country seven years ago, including Rome, Florence and Naples, promoting British beef after the "mad cow disease" scare.
He did not however go to the Vatican to meet Pope John Paul, nor did he do so when he made a trip to Turin and Piedmont in 2004, to attend the organic Slow Food Fair. He attended the funeral of Pope John Paul in Rome the following year.
The death of the Pope forced the prince and the then Mrs Parker Bowles to postpone their marriage for a day, since it took place just as he was due to marry her at a civil ceremony followed by a service of blessing conducted by Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Dr Williams said at the time: "These arrangements have my strong support and are consistent with Church of England guidelines concerning remarriage which the Prince of Wales fully accepts as a committed Anglican and as prospective Supreme Governor of the Church of England."
The Prince of Wales was the first senior member of the Royal Family to marry a divorcee since Edward VIII, who was forced to abdicate in 1936 before he could marry Wallis Simpson. The Pope will not have difficulty in receiving an heir to the throne who is both divorced and married to a divorcee since although the duchess's former husband, Andrew Parker Bowles, was a Catholic, both she and the Prince are Anglicans.
In 2001 Pope John Paul met the Mexican president, Vicente Fox, and his wife, Marta Sahagun, in separate audiences, since both were divorced and had re-married.
The Pope may however be more uncomfortable with reports that when he becomes King, Charles wishes to be known as Defender of "Faith" rather than "the Faith" to reflect the other religions in multi-cultural Britain. This however would require a Parliamentary amendment to the 1953 Royal Titles Act, which came into force after changes were made for the Queen's Coronation in that year.
The British monarch has been known as "Defender of the Faith" since the title was bestowed on Henry VIII by Pope Leo X in 1521, before the Reformation and the break with Rome.
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(Source: TOUK)