The Alliance Party has welcomed news of a visit to Ireland from Pope Francis in 2018.
Alliance MLA Trevor Lunn said: “The announcement about the visit of Pope Francis to Ireland is to be warmly welcomed as it has the potential to help build bridges between communities, and I am hopeful the visit will include Northern Ireland.
“Unfortunately, at the time of the visit of Pope John Paul II, the situation in Northern Ireland prevented him from coming north, but we are in a much better place now.
“The main purpose of this visit will be for the World Meeting of Families and it will be a natural extension of the visit for Pope Francis to come north, where I believe families from every community will come out to welcome him.”