(STRASBOURG) - Pope Benedict XVI has turned down an invitation to address the European Parliament this year, but may do so in 2009, the chamber's president said Tuesday.

"I have received a letter from the Vatican. They say 'not this year' but they do not rule out (a visit) next year," parliament President Hans-Gert Poettering said on the margins of an assembly session in Strasbourg.

The presidents of the European parliamentary groups made the invitation to the pontiff last December.

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