Pope John Paul II has accepted an invitation "in principle" to make a return visit to Ireland.
The Irish Bishops' Conference requested a visit by the Pope on September 29th to commemorate the 25th anniversary of his first visit in 1979.
The bishops said in a statement this afternoon the Vatican had accepted the invitation "in principle," but a date was not set.
Archbishop Sean Brady
The bishops have invited him on every visit by them to Rome during the 25 years since the pope was in Ireland.
The Catholic Primate, Archbishop Seán Brady, said the Pope's 2004 commitments would probably prevent him from attending on the proposed date but that it was not ruled out.
Archbishop Brady continued, "The programme of places to be visited has yet to be prepared and agreed. The visit of the Holy Father would once again be a pastoral one. An appropriate and substantial programme of prayer, preparation and reflection is essential to ensure that the people of Ireland would gain maximum benefit from another papal visit."
A programme to mark the anniversary will go ahead on September 29, with a large celebration planned in Clonmacnois, and a special Papal message has been requested.
Last month the Bishop of Meath, Dr Michael Smith, said he hoped the Pope might visit Northern Ireland.
The DUP Mid-Ulster Assembly member, the Rev William McCrea, said he would oppose any visit to Northern Ireland by Pope John Paul because his church's teaching was that he was the "anti-Christ, the evil one".
The Free Presbyterian minister said he made no apologies for his belief because when he was ordained he signed up to the Westminster Confessions of Faith, which so described the Pope, and which was rooted in Scripture. Mr McCrea said it would be a matter for the Free Presbyterian Church, which is led by the DUP leader, the Rev Ian Paisley, to decide whether to mount protests to any visit by the Pope to the North.
Dr Paisley and 100 other members of his church recently protested when the new Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, Dr Ken Newell, invited Archbishop Brady, to the church's general assembly in Belfast. "I honestly think we are once again seeing an attempt to appease the republican community in Northern Ireland. It is another part of the appeasement process," he added.
More than a million people, around a third of the population, watched Pope John Paul celebrate Mass in Phoenix Park, Dublin, during his two-and-a-half day visit to Ireland in September 1979.
He was determined to visit the North but after the murder of Lord Mountbatten in Sligo, he was advised that his presence could put the Catholic population in the North at risk from violence.
He visited Drogheda, Co Louth, just south of the border instead, where he famously prayed for an end to the Northern Ireland Troubles.
It is understood the Pope has always harboured a wish to return to Ireland and complete his tour and there is strong speculation he will only visit north of the border.
Although he is believed to be affected by Parkinson's disease, this has never been officially confirmed by the Vatican.
But despite his health problems, he has recently visited Switzerland and is due to visit the Marian Shrine in Lourdes, France, in August.