The largest number of foreign priests in Victoria, Melbourne, is Maltese, research carried out by Emigrants' Commission head Mgr Philip Calleja, shows.

Maltese priests have taken the place of the Irish, who had the highest number of foreign priests in the city - there are currently 32 Maltese priests in Victoria.

Leafing through pages of data, including the names of all those priests who moved to Australia over the years, Mgr Calleja said: "Malta is an emigrant's country, however, it has not only sent its people to other countries but also priests who used to take care of them."

Mgr Calleja, who has been working with migrants for many years, said a Maltese priest used to depart with every ship full of emigrants leaving the island some 50 years ago.

"Some of them decided to stay on," he said. The new immigrants had needed help, especially since many were illiterate and could not communicate with their families back in Malta without assistance.

"Soon after the immigration started we realised there was a big problem because they could not communicate with any of their relatives. The priests were very important in this area because they used to read letters and even write on behalf of Maltese migrants."

But staying on in Australia was no easy feat for priests who initially did not receive any financial assistance.

"We tried hard to get them some assistance and they started getting AUS$10 a month, which did not even cover their travelling expenses to visit the Maltese living in different areas of Australia," he said pensively.

Over the years some 200 Maltese priests have served in Australia, some of whom were the sons of Maltese migrants born on the continent. There are still 66 Maltese priests in Australia.

Mgr Calleja said one of the Maltese priests - Fr Albert Fulbrook - left the island as a child migrant in the 1950s.