DUBLIN (IRELAND)
Reuters
June 11, 2018
Reporting by Graham Fahy; Editing by Gareth Jones
Pope Francis will not visit British-ruled Northern Ireland this summer when he makes the first papal visit to Ireland in almost 40 years, the Vatican said on Monday.
Francis arrives in Dublin on August 25 for a two-day visit when the Irish capital hosts the 9th World Meeting of Families, a Roman Catholic event held every three years.
The visit comes after voters in Ireland overwhelmingly overturned one of the world’s strictest bans on abortions in a referendum, despite opposition from the Catholic Church.
Senior clerics, including the Archbishop of Armagh and all-Ireland primate Eamon Martin, had been pressing for the inclusion of Northern Ireland on his itinerary as a contribution to the peace process.
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