People hoisted flags from all over the world, including Brazil, Mexico, Malta and France.

WSJ: Black Smoke Signals No New Pope

He has been forced to apologise to victims of clerical sexual abuse of children in several countries, including the UK, the US, Malta and Ireland.

BBC: Pope Benedict: Will retirement seal his legacy?

So Malta is pushing to have them shared out across Europe including the UK. For now though, they're off to be processed.

BBC: Last Updated: Wednesday, 16 January 2008, 12:19 GMT