A total of 1,557 marriages were registered in the Archdiocese of Malta last year, roughly the same as in previous years, statistics issued by the Archbishop's Curia show.

Of these, 1,372 were marriages between Maltese. There were 67 marriages between Maltese and foreigners.

A breakdown of the figures shows that 35 marriages were between Maltese Catholics and foreign Catholics; 20 between Maltese Catholics and non-Catholic Christian foreigners; and 12 marriages between Maltese Catholics and non-Christians.

The 67 foreigners - 43 males and 24 females - who in 2007 married Maltese partners in Church came from 28 different countries.

The Curia's register for last year also includes 14 marriages between Maltese citizens who are living in another country and 104 marriages between foreigners.

Most of the marriages took place in June (294), in September (200) and in May (102). The least popular month is January with 19 marriages.

There were also a total of 56 marriages by couples who did not have a Church wedding when they originally got married but then decided to marry in Church.

The Curia said that during the last year, 19 widows and widowers were remarried and 30 persons took their marriage vows again after their first marriage was declared null.

There were also seven marriages in which one of the couple was aged over 70 years - six males and a female.

Four couples cancelled their registration to get married.