Pope won't visit before Christmas, says Ahern

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.

Mr Ahern said he and the Pope had discussed church-state relations, the European Constitution and the current political situation in the North during their 20-minute meeting in the private library of the papal residence, the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican.

The Taoiseach did not become aware of the London bombing atrocity until after his meetings with the Pope and the Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Sodano.

While the tragedy in London overshadowed the visit and dominated his press conference, Mr Ahern said it had been a great personal honour for him to meet the Pope, whom he described as a "very nice man" of gentle disposition but with very firm views.

"To be able to sit and talk to him one-to-one was a huge personal pleasure for me," said Mr Ahern.

A guard of honour drawn from the Vatican's Swiss Guard saluted Mr Ahern and his delegation as he arrived at the papal residence.

He was greeted by the Pope, dressed in a white cassock, who then brought him to the private library for a meeting.

While the subject of a possible visit to Ireland did not directly arise during the audience, Mr Ahern did tell the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Sodano that if an offer were made to the Pope by Irish bishops, he would be hugely supportive.

Mr Ahern, speaking at a press conference after the meeting, said his understanding was that the Pontiff has committed to only two trips at present: his visit to Cologne in Germany in August; and a trip to Istanbul at a later stage.

"I think the Holy Father is going to spend the summer reflecting on a lot of issues, I think probably issues to do with the Vatican," he said.

In a direct reference to a possible future trip to Ireland, Mr Ahern said: "I think it will be a considerable time before the Holy Father thinks about travelling. I don't think it's going to be an issue this side of Christmas."

During his conversation with Cardinal Sodano in particular, Mr Ahern indicated that the Irish Government expected "positive progress" within the next few weeks. That was taken as a reference to the long-awaited IRA statement of disbandment, widely expected to be made around the middle of July.

"The Pope was well aware of the problems of the past and atrocities of the past; and the relative success since the Good Friday Agreement," said Mr Ahern.

"He was acutely aware that we have not yet got the power-sharing arrangements that were envisaged by the agreement," he said.

"It was to Cardinal Sodano that I expressed my hope that we would see progress in the weeks immediately ahead, that will perhaps allow us to rebuild the trust and confidence required to get the institutions up and running in the foreseeable future."

Mr Ahern said that Pope Benedict was very pleased that we had made such success of ending the killing and the horrors and the brutality of the past. He was very encouraging in his words.

The private audience with the Pope had been an initiative of the Irish Government. Last autumn, there were intensive contacts between the Vatican and the Irish Embassy at the Holy See on foot of Pope John Paul II's decision to visit Ireland for a second time and, separately, because there were hopes of a major breakthrough in the peace process.