Pope Benedict XVI, who died on Saturday aged 95, spent almost eight years leading the Catholic Church before he chose to resign in 2013. 

For most Maltese, the highlight of his papacy was a 27-hour visit to the island between April 17 and 18, 2010.

The late pope, who was born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, flew to Malta just one day after turning 83. 

He was received with enthusiasm wherever he went: people turned up in their hundreds, particularly at Paola and Kalkara, from where the late pope boarded a catamaran for his crossing of the Grand Harbour, accompanied by a flotilla of almost 100 small boats.

Several recall the Valletta Waterfront heaving with some 10,000 young people who waited for Benedict's arrival for about four hours.

Once he landed at the waterfront, he told the youths gathered there that other nations could learn from Malta's Christian example.

On the first day here, he met Malta's political leadership at the Palace before being driven to St Paul's Church in Rabat.

At St George's Square, children sang Happy Birthday to the pontiff in four languages as he waved from the Palace balcony, praising them for their enthusiasm.

In Rabat, he prayed at St Paul's grotto and addressed Maltese missionaries on the church parvis.

Under the shadow of scandal

That was Malta's third visit by the head of the Roman Catholic Church and it took place at the height of the clerical sex abuse scandal. 

Earlier that month, Lawrence Grech, who claimed to have been sexually abused by priests in a Santa Venera orphanage, had called on the pope to issue an apology.

He had said Benedict should use his trip to Malta to apologise to local victims of child abuse, just like he had done to the Irish.

Benedict's visit in fact made international headlines when the pontiff held an unscheduled meeting with the victims.

The meeting with the Maltese victims at the Apostolic Nunciature lasted 35 minutes. The victims later said it had been a “healing experience”.

It was a historic first for the pontiff and appeared aimed at reinforcing the pope's expressions of regret. The Holy See described the pope's meeting with the victims as deeply moving.

A 50,000-strong mass 

Just moments before, the Pope had led mass for some 50,000 faithful at the Floriana granaries.

Recalling that event many years later, artistic director Carlo Schembri, who had been responsible for designing and coordinating the backdrops to that papal visit, told Times of Malta that the chairs the pontiff and 700 members of the clergy were going to sit on were made of durable recycled cardboard.

“I remember I was speaking to Mgr Charles Scicluna and I told him I was concerned about the rain since the chairs were made of cardboard. He told me: ‘The pope said it will not rain.’ I believed him.”

And although there was a heavy downpour in the early hours on April 18, the sun did come out by the time the pontiff was expected at the granaries. 

Ratzinger was also the pope who canonised Dun Ġorġ Preca, making him Malta's first saint during a rain-drenched ceremony in St Peter's Square in June 2007.

During mass at the granaries in 2010 he had referred to the saint, urging Maltese priests to use Dun  Ġorġ as their model.

"Dun  Ġorġ was a priest of remarkable humility, goodness, meekness and generosity, deeply devoted to prayer and with a passion for communicating the truths of the Gospel. Let him serve as a model and an inspiration for you, as you strive to fulfil the mission you have received to feed the Lord's flock."

You can watch highlights from the visit here: