Tributes have been paid to a 75-year-old priest who died after finding himself in difficulties while swimming.

The incident happened near Exiles Beach, across the road from the Carmelite convent.

Fr Victor Enriquez was pulled ashore by a number of people who administered CPR. Their efforts, however, were in vain.

A magisterial inquiry has been appointed.  

Fr Hermann Duncan, a fellow Carmelite priest, said that Fr Victor often went for a swim across the road from the convent, before celebrating the 9.30am mass. But this morning he never made it back.

“The parishioners came to tell us what happened. They said that he fainted and died,” he said adding that Fr Victor had a heart condition. Someone else had to say the 9.30am mass and it was very emotional for all involved, he said, adding that Fr Victor had first celebrated mass on September 5, 1971.

Just yesterday Fr Victor made jelly for the fellow priests who lived together at the Balluta priory .

“He prepared jelly for us and later in the day he came to tell us it was taking long to set. Who would have ever imagined he would die the following morning?” he said.

Meanwhile, in a Facebook post on the official page of the Balluta Parish Church, Fr Victor’s death was announced to parishioners who expressed their condolences and shared memories. 

One parishioner said described him as "a gentle soul". Another woman said she had met him swimming last week, and that it was “one of his favourite pastimes.”

Many spoke about the days when Fr Victor was the master of discipline at Mount Carmel College.

A former student wrote: “May he rest in peace. He was a person of great discipline from whom I learned a lot,” a former student wrote.