Pope Benedict XVI is planning a visit to
Monaco, in what would be the first visit by a pope to the tiny
principality in nearly 500 years, Monaco's Catholic Church said
Thursday.
'We invited him several times and now we have
received a positive answer,' Rene Giuliano, vicar-general of the Monaco
archbishopric, said.
The time-frame being discussed was 2012, he said.
The Vatican usually doesn't confirm the pope's travel plans far in advance.
Benedict granted Prince Albert of Monaco a private audience in October 2009.
The last pope to visit Monaco was Pope Clemens VII in 1532.
Monaco is the second-smallest country in the world after the Vatican State.
The Catholic Church is the state church.
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