Pope expected to make live address at congress

Pope Benedict XVI is unlikely to visit Ireland this summer, despite receiving an invitation to attend the International Eucharistic Congress in Dublin in June.

Church sources have played down the possibility that the Pontiff might travel to Dublin for the major international gathering of Catholics following a meeting yesterday in Rome between Pope Benedict and the Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin.

Instead, it is believed that the 84-year-old Pope will make a live televised address to the crowd of more than 80,000 due to attend the highlight of the eight-day event — an open-air Mass in Croke Park entitled Statio Orbis on June 17.