British Prime Minister Tony Blair will be in Rome at the start of next month to meet with Italian Premier Romano Prodi and travel to the Vatican for a private audience with Pope Benedict XVI.
A Downing Street spokesperson said Blair wanted to discuss "interconfessional questions" with the pope in view of an important upcoming conference on Islam in Britain.
Blair's discussions with Prodi are expected to focus on bilateral relations and the next European Union summit.
There have been unconfirmed reports that Blair, an Anglican, will convert to Catholicism once he leaves office next month. His wife Cherie is a practicing Catholic.
Once he steps down, after ten years in office, Blair intends to create a foundation which will focus on promoting dialogue between Christianity, Judaism and Islam.
Sources at the Vatican have indicated that the pope's audience with Blair will take place on June 2.
This will be the fourth time the British prime minister has visited the Vatican. His last visit was last June 3 when he met with Benedict.
