Pope Benedict XVI has accepted an invitation from UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to visit the UN headquarters in New York.

Fr Lombardi, from the Vatican's press office said on Friday: "The Pope has accepted the invitation in general terms, and has expressed his willingness to visit the UN headquarters, although as yet there is no date or programme for the trip."

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon extended the invitation to the Pope during an audience in the Vatican on 18 April.

Pope Benedict's predecessor John Paul II visited the UN twice during his pontificate: in 1979 and in 1995, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the foundation of the UN.

Pope Paul VI became the first pope to speak at the UN in 1965.