Enda Kenny to meet Pope Francis in the Vatican next week

Big news.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny will meet with Pope Francis in the Vatican on Monday, November 28. The meeting comes in the wake of the Conference of Irish Bishops' decision to formally invite Pope Francis to attend the World Meeting of Families in Dublin in 2019. At the meeting on Monday, the Taoiseach is expected to express his full support of the Bishops Conference invitation of the Pope to Ireland and to assure the Pope that the normal state courtesies and support will be extended to him if he decides to take up the invitation. “They are also expected to discuss a number of issues of mutual and global interest, including bilateral relations, developments in the European Union and migration,” a statement from the Department of Foreign Affairs said. It will be the second time Kenny has met the pontiff following a previous meeting at the dual canonisation of Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul II in 2014.