Pope Paul has agreed to have talks next week with senior officials of the World Population Conference, it was announced last week at United Nations headquarters in New York.
The disclosure was regarded as confirmation that the Vatican would be represented at the UN-sponsored conference, which opens in Bucharest in August.
The conference SecretaryGeneral, Dr Antonio CarilloFlores of Mexico, told reporters that he and Mr Rafael Salas of the Philippines. SecretaryGeneral of the UN Population Fund, would call on the Pope on Thursday of next week.
He did not say what questions the two officials would raise with the Pope, who has appeared to be critical of the UN's advocacy of birth control. A confidential Vatican circular to all national and regional bishops' conferences discussing world population year was "leaked " to the press by church sources some time ago.
Dr Carillo-Flores said last Saturday that there had been too much emphasis in the press on the "population explosion:which was not the only problem the conference would deal with. Also very important, he said. were the problems of the mass exodus from the countryside to cities, and that of internattonal m igration.