Taoiseach Bertie Ahern's visit to the Vatican today has come as "something of a surprise" to bishops, church sources said yesterday.
The bishops have yet to issue an invitation to Pope Benedict XVI to visit Ireland and it is understood there are no plans for them to do so at present.
Protocol dictates an invitation would be issued by the bishops, rather than the State.
Mr Ahern will meet Pope Benedict in private audience at 11am today for half an hour. It will be followed by an hour-long meeting with Vatican secretary of state Cardinal Angelo Sedano.
The Taoiseach is among the first international leaders to be granted a private audience by the Pope since his election last April.
Government sources indicated that today's meetings followed an initiative by Ireland's Embassy to the Holy See, on encouragement from Cardinal Sedano.
There had been regular contact between the Holy See and Ireland towards the end of last year as agreement in the North seemed likely. Pope John Paul had hoped to see peace secured in Northern Ireland before he died.
Last November, Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern had a private audience with Pope John Paul during celebrations in Rome to mark the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Ireland and the Holy See.
At a ceremony in the Irish College during those celebrations, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin called for "new forms of structural dialogue" between church and State in Ireland. He said he had been surprised to hear fellow bishops claim it was easier for them to communicate with the Northern Ireland Office than it was with the State.
At its Cabinet meeting last week, the Government decided to approve the initiation of "structured dialogue" with the churches and faith communities. The EU constitutional treaty provides for such communication.
In a statement last Sunday, the Government said it had decided to proceed with setting up such a dialogue at national level, "despite the current position on the (EU) treaty, in recognition of the valued role of the churches and faith communities in civil society".
Ireland is among the first EU countries to initiate this form of structured dialogue with churches and faith communities. It is expected the Taoiseach will discuss this with the Pope and Cardinal Sedano today.
Other matters likely to be raised include the situation in the North and the EU. Pope Benedict is keen on European integration and was among the more avid supporters of including a reference to God in the EU constitution. The Irish position on legal protection for the human embryo may be raised also at today's meetings.
Following their summer meeting last month, the Irish bishops issued a statement strongly opposing recommendations made in the recent report to Government by the Commission for Assisted Human Reproduction.
They said they wished "to state quite categorically that the recommendation of the commission that 'the embryo formed by IVF should not attract legal protection until placed in the human body' is unacceptable".
They continued: "This is not simply a matter of Catholic teaching. It concerns the common good of our society."
Last month, the Pope backed a campaign by Italian bishops who urged voters to boycott a referendum on assisted fertility. The turnout was 25.9 per cent.
