Arlene Foster's welcome (the politician, above) has paved the way for what would be a groundbreaking visit in 2018 by the Pontiff, almost exactly 30 years after her party founder and former DUP leader Ian Paisley denounced Pope John Paul II as the anti-Christ.
Her spokesman said: "Were the Pope to visit Northern Ireland in his capacity as head of state then the First Minister would meet him."
Pope John Paul II was unable to cross the border into Northern Ireland, where he wanted to visit Armagh, during the last papal visit to Ireland in 1979.
The ability for Pope Francis to cross from the Republic to the North will represent a significant progression in relations between the two nations since then.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny confirmed Pope Francis would travel to Ireland in August 2018 after a 23-minute meeting with him in the Vatican on Monday morning.
The Irish capital is hosting the two-day World Meeting of Families, a gathering of the Church.
Mr Kenny's meeting with the Pope will also be seen as a milestone in the thawing of relations between Dublin and the Vatican over recent years.
Just five years ago, amid a wave of inquiries into decades of clerical child sex abuse in Ireland, the Taoiseach branded the Holy See "a dysfunctional, elite hierarchy" which was determined to frustrate the investigations of "a sovereign, democratic republic".
Mr Kenny said: "I explained to him my own difficulties with the Church some years ago and I was happy to confirm to him that Church and state relations are now in better shape than they were for very many years."
