Archbishop Paul Cremona this morning did not rule out the possibility of the Pope meeting the alleged victims of child abuse in Malta, but said there was not much flexibility in the Pope's programme to make such a meeting possible.

Mgr Cremona made his comment when he visited the Granaries in Floriana, where the building of the large altar for next Sunday morning's Papal Mass is nearing completion.

The alleged victims made their request for a private meeting with the Pope at a press conference yesterday. Mgr Cremona pointed out that he would be meeting the alleged victims before the Papal visit, but he could not tell the Pope what to do.

Mgr Charles Cordina, who is leading the Church organising committee, said that there was great and growing enthusiasm for the Pope's visit, as evidenced by the thousands of requests for accreditation made by youths for the meeting with the Pope on Sunday afternoon, and requests for accreditation by elderly people for access to the areas reserved for people with mobility problems at the Papal Mass.

Mgr Cremona this morning also visited the Papal visit coordination ofices, where he was handed his own accreditation card.