Senior Vatican sources have dismissed speculation that the appointment of a new Archbishop of Dublin to replace Cardinal Desmond Connell will take place this week.
Cardinal Connell, who will be 77 on March 24th, offered his resignation two years ago in accordance with canon law which imposes compulsory retirement from office at the age of 75.
Cardinal Connell's presence in Rome this week for a series of routine Holy See meetings has prompted Irish media speculation that the Vatican might choose this moment to finally accept his resignation and announce his successor.
Both senior Vatican sources and the Cardinal's Dublin office, however, yesterday again dismissed the speculation.
A spokesman for the cardinal pointed out that Dr Connell was in Rome for some important meetings but that his schedule did not include either an audience with Pope John Paul II or a meeting with the Vatican's Congregation of Bishops, the Vatican department which oversees appointments throughout the Catholic Church.
Vatican insiders furthermore point out that it is too simplistic to conclude that because Cardinal Connell is in Rome, then the matter of his retirement and the appointment of a successor must inevitably be on his agenda.
Given that the cardinal has already offered his resignation, there is no reason for him to be in Rome on the day that his successor is finally appointed.
Vatican custom and practice would suggest that Dr Connell will be privately informed ahead of time of the appointment of his successor but there is no reason for him to come to Rome to receive that information.
Cardinal Connell's situation is radically different from that of senior Irish Church figures such as Bishops Eamon Casey and Brendan Comiskey who, under exceptional and controversial circumstances, both had to make secretive visits to Rome, and to the Congregation of Bishops in particular, to offer their resignations.
Vatican insiders also suggested that the huge concentration of Holy See energies on the unfolding Iraqi crisis is another good reason to argue that other business, including important appointments such as that to the archdiocese of Dublin, will take a very distant second place this week.
Most observers believe that Pope John Paul will want to have a specific say in the appointment of Dr Connell's successor.
Throughout his 24-year pontificate, the Pope has always paid huge attention to senior Church appointments, often ignoring the infamous terna (three names) offered to him by the Prefect of the Congregation of Bishops.
For example, men such as Cardinal Edward Egan of New York and Cardinal Joachim Meisner of Cologne had not figured in the Prefect's terna.
Finally, there is good reason to believe that the Vatican will be keen to avoid any suggestion of a "reprimand" or a "firing" in relation to Dr Connell's resignation, lest the Holy See might be seen to have responded to an anti-clerical lobby which wants Dr Connell out of office because of his alleged mishandling of clerical sex abuse cases in the archdiocese of Dublin throughout the last decade.
Put simply, the more a certain anti-clerical lobby wants to see Dr Connell put out to grass, the less likely it is that the Vatican will accommodate that lobby.
It is by no means unprecedented for the Pope to leave cardinals in senior positions until the age of 80, notwithstanding the compulsory retirement age of 75.