Updated:

The Archbishop’s Curia said this afternoon that acts of vandalism on billboards of the papal visit appeared to be the work of elements who, for their own reasons, decided that they were in a position to judge.

Billboards at Marsa, the Birkirkara By-Pass and Bahar ic-Caghaq were vandalised overnight, with a Hitler moustache painted on the figure of the Pope, along with symbols of paedophilia.

The Curia said these anomalous actions did not respect the sentiments of the people and other people’s property rights.

It said that while the material preparations for the Pope’s visit were necessary so that the Pope could be granted a proper welcome, for Maltese Catholics, the priority of this pastoral visit was the spiritual benefit.

The Pope, who is due to start his short visit to Malta today week, is German and in his youth was conscripted into the German forces in the closing stages of the war.