Maltese altar boys serving at St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican met Maltese cardinal Prospero Grech, and posed with him in front of the alter of the confession.
The Maltese altar boys were present as Pope Francis presided over the celebration of the Vespers and when he led the Eucharistic adoration and the Te Deum thanking God for 2018.
In his homily, the Pope said that many people all over the world, including 10,000 in Rome, lived the hardship Jesus had come to the world to save them from.