LONDON (Reuters) - Pope Benedict will visit Britain next year following an invitation from Prime Minister Gordon Brown, a government source said on Wednesday.
The visit is expected to coincide with a beatification ceremony for Cardinal John Henry Newman, one of the most prominent English converts from Anglicanism to Catholicism.
Church sources in Rome confirmed a visit was likely in the spring but there were no firm details for the moment.
It would be the first visit to Britain by a pontiff since Pope John Paul came in 1982. About 5 million Catholics live in England.
Newman, who converted to Catholicism in 1845, was a key figure in the Oxford Movement, which tried to move the Church of England closer to its Catholic origins.
(Additional reporting by Phil Pullella in Rome)