A PAPAL visit to Northern Ireland is now more likely than it has ever been, according to Archbishop of Armagh Eamon Martin.
There is speculation that Pope Francis may visit Ireland in 2018 after he announced that the next Catholic World Meeting of Families will take place in Dublin.
He was speaking on Sunday at Mass in Philadelphia during a visit to the US where he met rapturous reception.
The World Meeting of Families was started by St John Paul in 1994 and takes place every three years at different locations around the world, with a Pope in physical attendance at six out of the eight - two of which were in Rome.
They participated via satellite at the others.
If Pope Francis does attend, it will be the first time a pontiff has set foot on Irish soil since the then Pope John Paul II had a successful visit in 1979.
That was planned to include Northern Ireland, but he did not end up crossing the border following the murder of Lord Mountbatten and the deaths of 18 soldiers ambushed outside Warrenpoint.
Instead of travelling to Armagh as originally intended, he delivered his message of peace from across the border at Drogheda before a massive crowd - containing many from the north.
A trip to Northern Ireland during any future future papal visit is regarded as a completion of this earlier plan.
Prospect of a visit by Pope Francis to Ireland including the North in 2018 is most welcome.If it comes to pass he will be warmly received.
— Martin McGuinness (@M_McGuinness_SF) September 29, 2015
Asked about possible visit by @Pontifex, @DUPleader says "we welcome visitors to NI all the time", but haven't heard from Vatican yet
— Mark Devenport (@markdevenport) September 28, 2015Pope Francis has a long-standing invitation from the Irish bishops, issued at the time he took over from Pope Benedict XVI.
The previous pontiff was also asked to visit Ireland, but did not manage to do so before he renounced his position to live a life of quiet contemplation.
Archbishop Martin said yesterday it would be wonderful if he could travel north of the border, saying it was the most likely it's ever been that a Pope may visit Northern Ireland.
Meanwhile, Archbishop of Dublin Dr Diarmuid Martin has said he believes Pope Francis is determined to visit Ireland.
He told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland the city was chosen to hold the World Meeting of Families because the Pope has a personal interest in the Emerald Isle.
Archbishop Martin indicated in could be known before the end of October if Pope Francis will visit.
He said he will discuss the matter at the Synod of Bishops and that it may be known in the next three weeks if the Pope will come to Ireland.
"He sees this as something that is very close to his own ideas," Dr Martin said.
"He has a great liking for Ireland and he has a concern for Ireland and I think he just sees this as coming to Ireland but with a good build-up to it rather than just arriving with a few weeks' notice."
The Dublin archbishop said the Pope has a concern for Ireland in relation to the damage caused by the child sex abuse scandal and added that the pontiff is aware of the fact that Irish society is changing, as is the social ethic of families in the western world.
It would not be the first time Pope Francis has set foot in Ireland - albeit not in the capacity in which he is now eagerly awaited.
In 1980, then Fr Jorge Mario Bergoglio and aged 43, he studied and stayed at the Jesuit-run Milltown Institute in Ranelagh in Dublin.
Now pontiff, he is more than a year into what he has suggested may be a four or five-year papacy.
