Pope Benedict in Malta - part 2

Pope Benedict approaching the altar with the Floriana church in the background

The Papal Mass was held on Sunday April 18, 2010. It was raining that morning, but as soon as the Pope appeared, the sun starting its reign, which incidentally burned my head, and so my fear of a wet day turned out to be a sun-tan session at Floriana. Thousands of people attended the Mass, waving Maltese and Vatican flags. This was the third time a Pope celebrated Mass in the largest open-air space in Malta. Pope John Paul II had visited Malta in 1990 and again in 2001.

The Pope incensing the altar at the start of the Mass.

More photos of the Pope during the Mass will follow over the next two weeks, just to commemorate the last few days of Benedict's papacy, which ends on February 28.