The President Mary McAleese met Pope Benedict today during her official visit to the Vatican in Rome.
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Pope Benedict XVI greets the President Mary McAleese in his library at the Vatican today. |
During the half-hour meeting, a potential visit to Ireland by the pointiff was discussed as was the North's peace process.
The Pope said the world needed this process to work and emphasised the importance of Christians working together to demonstrate that reconciliation can work.
He referred the structured, inter-church dialogue that the Irish churches have initiated and which he said he hopes will become a model for other countries.
Mrs McAleese will address the Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Community Congress in Rome before returning to Dublin tonight.
Her trip comes as international interest in Irish affairs has been heightened by hopes of the return of powersharing government in Northern Ireland on Monday.