As the papal visit fever sets in so does the popularity of the mementos of his visit.

The official souvenirs to commemorate the Pope Benedict's visit to Malta are all set and ready at the ‘Emmaus' religious retail outlet in Birkirkara.

The souvenirs mainly consist of magnets, gold pins, lapel pins, keychains, pens, 2011 calendars, hand flags and scarves. According to Father Paul Darmanin, Emmaus director, sales have reached a peak this week.

"Of course this is not about commercialisation, we are here offering a service more than anything else," said Fr Darmanin. He believes that the most popular item during the Pope's visit will be the yellow scarves: "The Curia will be distributing the scarves for free to all young people during the Pope's youth meeting at the Waterfront on Sunday."

As a memento, the most popular with buyers seems to be a sizable blue magnet with the image of the Pope waving.

Fr Darmanin explained how several other Pope related items available on the market, such as mugs, are not official as only Emmaus has the rights to use the official logo. "We are also the only ones to obtain the rights from the Osservatore Romano to use the images of Pope Benedict XVI," he said.

Emmaus is a main distributor and publisher of religious items and books and is run by the Conventual Fransiscans.