Pope Benedict XVI could be set to visit Birmingham next year in a trip which could potentially coincide with the beatification of Cardinal John Henry Newman.

A draft itinerary of the papal tour, which has yet to be formally announced, is expected to include London, Birmingham, Oxford and Edinburgh.

The Vatican has yet to confirm reports of a UK tour, which is believed to have come from British officials travelling with Prime Minister Gordon Brown in New York.

However, it is thought the trip will be announced shortly by the Catholic Church.

The beatification of Midlands cleric Cardinal Newman is set to take place next May or June after the Pope this year attributed a miracle to the cardinal, potentially paving the way for him to become a saint.

Cardinal Newman, one of the best-known English churchmen of the 19th Century, can now be beatified but a second miracle is necessary for him to be declared a saint.

If that happens he would be the first English-born saint since the Reformation.

Cardinal Newman, who founded Birmingham Oratory in 1848, was one of the founders of the Oxford Movement of the 1830s, which sought to revive some Roman Catholic doctrines in the Church of England. If the papal visit goes ahead it will be the first trip to the UK since Pope John Paul II’s visit in 1982.

It comes after Mr Brown extended a formal invitation to the Pope during a private audience in February.

Former Archbishop of Birmingham, the Most Rev Vincent Nichols, now Archbishop of Westminster and leader of Catholics in England and Wales, said: “We are encouraged and pleased at the news which has emerged about the possible official visit.

“We are glad the Holy Father is giving such consideration to the invitations he has received from Her Majesty’s Government, which accord closely to the wishes and requests also expressed by the Bishops of England and Wales. The prospect of a visit by Pope Benedict fills us with joy.”

Peter Jennings, spokesman for Birmingham’s Catholic community, confirmed the beatification of Cardinal Newman is likely to take place in Birmingham next year.

He said: “Pope Benedict XVI has studied Cardinal Newman and could wish to visit somewhere connected with the cardinal’s life, be that London, Oxford or Birmingham.”

The miracle approved by the Pope concerns the medically inexplicable cure of US Deacon John Sullivan, aged 70, of Boston, who was cured of years of severe back pain after praying to Cardinal Newman.