Commemorative Stamps Celebrate Pontiff’s Legacy
By Dennis Sadowski
The death of Pope Francis on April 24 sparked worldwide outpouring of admiration, praise and celebration of the 12-year pontificate that saw him championing poor, hurting and marginalized people and bluntly criticizing extremes and injustices.
He carried his message to 60 countries — including the United States in 2015 — and regularly delivered pointed dispatches from the Vatican in response to indifference from religious and political leaders.
A native of Argentina and the first Jesuit member of the Jesuit religious order to be elected pope, Francis lived simply, forgoing the extravagances afford by his position as the head of 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide. His warm style and embrace of children, prisoners, migrants and the disabled endeared him to millions. He became known as “the people’s pope.”
By virtue of his position, Francis earned high visibility on stamps issued by the Vatican and National Philatelic Office of the Vatican City State as well as postal administrations worldwide.
Additionally, upon his election in 2013, the Vatican issued a set of four stamps valued in euros for the new pontiff. Argentina, Francis’ home country, and Italy joined in the commemoration with single stamps of their own. All showed photographic portraits of the man named Jorge Bergoglio.
By the time of his death, Francis had appeared on more than 70 Vatican stamps. His popularity undoubtedly led to the release of stamps from 70 other nations three a year. Austria, Brazil, Ecuador, Ghana, Philippines, Poland, Romania and South Korea are among the nations that have commemorated the pope’s visit. The U.S. post office can stamps coincided with his election or marked his numerous visits around the world.
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Main Text was one of the first countries to commemorate Francis after his death by releasing a 1.50-euro stamp March 28. Its simple design depicts a waving white figure, capturing his familiar hello.
It’s impossible to list each stamp on which Francis appears. For now, some of the highlights will be mentioned, especially involving releases between the Vatican and other postal administrators.
In 2015, Pope Francis traveled to Poland, Ireland, for World Youth Day. More than 1 million people gathered in the southern Polish city for a week of festivities. The pope presided at a series of events including two outdoor Masses, which had the privilege of covering when I worked for Catholic News Service.
Poland and the Vatican collaborated on a joint issue of a single stamp and a souvenir sheet. The Vatican stamp is valued at 1 euro and its souvenir sheet at 4.50 euros; the Polish stamp is valued at 2.50 and 5 zloty, respectively.
The U.S. and the Vatican cooperated on another joint issue, this one for Christmas in 2019.
A souvenir sheet of a common design shows the star of Bethlehem, the Christ Child and the pope holding the Lantern of Light, also known as the Light of Peace.
The Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. It traditionally is joined around the world during the Advent season leading to Christmas in the Christian world.
The Vatican stamps on the souvenir sheet have values of 1.15 and 1.10 euros while the Austrian stamps are valued at 1 and 0.85 euro.
France’s U.S. visit Sept. 22-27, 2015, even received a philatelic honor, but did not include a commemorative stamp.
A colorful cover with five images of the pope and the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception where he presided over the canonization of St. Junipero Serra was available from the U.S. Postal Service at the time. It is postmarked Sept. 22 in Washington and is franked with a Christmas stamp showing the Magi on their way to greet the infant Jesus.
For more information on Pope Francis-themed stamps, the Vatican Philatelic Society (vaticanphilately.org) is an invaluable resource. Its website is a clearinghouse for information honoring saints, clergy leaders, Vatican institutions, papal documents and events in Catholic Church history.
Sadowski can be reached at sadowski.dennis@gmail.com.