Brown Invites Pope To Visit Britain

It would be the first visit by a pope to the United Kingdom since the late Pope John Paul visited in 1982.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Thursday he had invited Pope Benedict to visit Britain.

Brown, speaking to reporters after a private audience with the pope, said there was no indication when the visit would take place.

"He was very welcoming of the invitation," Brown said.

It would be the first visit by a pope to the United Kingdom since the late Pope John Paul visited in 1982.

Brown said he suggested to the pope that he could consider making the visit coincide with the beatification of Cardinal John Henry Newman, one of the most prominent English converts from Anglicanism to Catholism.

No date has yet been set for the beatification but it was expected to take place either later this year or next year.