VATICAN (CNS): The Vatican Philatelic and Numismatic Office is marking the 10th anniversary of Pope Francis’ election with a series of four postage stamps.
“We want to celebrate some of the most significant moments of Pope Francis’ pontificate,” the office said in a statement. The stamps went on sale on February 27, just about two weeks before the anniversary of the pope’s election on 13 March 2013.
The €1.20 stamp features a photo of Pope Francis praying during the Mass he celebrated to inaugurate his papacy on 19 March 2013, while the photo on the €1.25 stamp shows the popes kissing the Book of the Gospels and was chosen to celebrate the Sunday of the Word of God, a celebration Pope Francis decided to add to the Church’s calendar in 2019.
The third stamp, at €2.40, shows Pope Francis smiling during the sacrament of reconciliation and marks his institution of the “24 Hours for the Lord,” a Lenten observance in Rome and at the Vatican focused on making confession widely and easily available.
The fourth stamp, at €3.10, features a photo from the pope’s first pastoral trip outside of Rome when he flew to the island of Lampedusa on 8 July 2013, to pray for the thousands of migrants who had lost their lives trying to cross the Mediterranean, and to offer words of hope to the asylum seekers who had made the crossing and to encourage everyone to help the newcomers.
