A papal visit to Croatia could cost more than four million Euros and it has not yet been confirmed whether the Croatian President Ivo Josipovic will extend the invitation to Benedict XVI at his upcoming trip to Vatican.

Josipovic will be travelling to the Holy Seat on October 9th for an official visit, and many expect that he will use the occasion to confirm Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor’s invitation. She had invited the Pope during her visit last March and has expressed hope that he would come to Croatia as early as next year.

"The President’s invitation to the Pope must of course be coordinated with the Prime Minister, but in addition to that there is also the question of money, or in other words, how we would finance the visit," the president’s office has said.

The visit could well create the same 4.1 million euro expense as the last papal visit to Croatia, that of former Pope John Paul II. That amount was only the money set aside from the state budget for security forces numbering 6,000 policemen, travel, housing and food for the Vatican delegation. It does not include various public donations that were also spent on various infrastructural undertakings.

The first two Papal visits were even more expensive, the daily Jutarnji List writes.

As appointments in the Vatican demand full discretion, no details of the President’s plan for the visit have been revealed as of yet.