A petition signed by more than half of the inmates at the Corradino prison calls on Pope Benedict to ask the government to grant them "some kind of amnesty".

In the letter to the Pontiff, which was published yesterday, the prisoners expressed their joy at the Pope's visit to Malta on April 17 and 18.

They expressed the hope that the visit to a country that owes its faith to St Paul - a Roman prisoner at the time of his shipwreck in Malta - brings solace to them and their families.

"Indeed, we have motive to rejoice the more, since, as Your Holiness indubitably knows, it was by a prisoner that these islands were thankfully born to Christ 1,950 years ago".

"The prisoners humbly and respectfully appeal to the Pontiff to solicit the government's Cabinet of Ministers to grant (them) some kind of amnesty. Some of us here are sentenced: some, justifiably; several, unduly harshly; a few, unjustly," the prisoners said in the letter. "Two factors we all have in common: our incarceration and our misery."

George Busuttil, general secretary of Mid-Dlam Għad-Dawl, said the prisoners themselves had taken the initiative for the petition and presented it to the Apostolic Nuncio, Mgr Tommaso Caputo after collecting about 330 signatures from 570 prisoners.

An inmate, Brenda, not only signed but wrote: "We thank you for visit us in Malta."

"This will be an act of Christian solidarity with us and a concrete way to enliven our dismal lives," the appeal said, promising the Pope prayers.

The letter included inmates of different nationalities and faiths. In fact, they highlighted this pointing out that, despite the different backgrounds, they were still "fully aware of the profound and ancient Christian heritage that Malta has and the great standing, both personal and spiritual, that (Pope Benedict) enjoys among its people".