POPE BENEDICT XVI is unlikely to consider the possibility of a papal visit to Ireland until after Christmas at the earliest, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said after meeting the Pontiff at the Vatican yesterday morning.

Finally at rest after years of debilitating disease, Pope John Paul II’s body lay in state today in the frescoed Apostolic Palace as the world mourned his passing and the Vatican prepared for the ritual-filled funeral and conclave that will elect his successor.

The Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, celebrated a Mass for the repose of Pope John Paul II’s soul today on the steps of St Peter’s Basilica, calling on the tens of thousands of people gathered there to pray for “our beloved John Paul".

People’s hands flew to their faces and some wept as they witnessed Pope John Paul’s struggle in front of a microphone, where he managed only a few sounds before he gave up and delivered his Easter blessing with a sign of the cross.

A senior Vatican official has responded to a sensitive question that many Roman Catholics have been asking: Would ailing Pope John Paul II ever consider stepping down?

SPECULATION increased last night that the Pope may consider resigning, as it emerged that he came within minutes of death last week.

The Pope will remain in hospital for a few more days as a precaution, the Vatican said today as the question of John Paul’s possible resignation was raised.

Pope John Paul II was strong enough to turn the pages of written greetings today and speak in a clear voice, according to an Italian bishop who called on him in his hospital room.