Sor Teresita, who has been in the convent for 84 years, is to meet Benedict XVI in Madrid on Friday

Spanish nun, Sor Teresita, is to come out of her cloistered convent to meet the Pope during his visit to Madrid for World Youth Day on Friday.

The 103 year old nun, who is 104 next month, has seen outside world only once in 84 years, during the Spanish Civil War. She entered the convent on the same day that the Pope was born, April 16 1927.

With 84 of her 103 years spent inside the Convento de Beunafuente del Sistal, in Guadalajara, she is the nun to have spent most time hidden from the world.

The Mother Superior, Madre María, says the 103 year old has said that she plans to keep her eyes closed during the whole journey so that nothing distracts her.

The nun recently told the author Jesús García that she was happy with her life, and revealed that it was her father, a farmer, who encouraged her and her sister to take up the habit, perhaps as a way of escaping the poverty of the time.