Friendship linking relations between the two States

Among the initiatives organized for the centenary of diplomatic relations between the Holy See and Panama is also the issue of a stamp produced by the Post and Philately Service and the Governorate of Vatican City State.

A reproduction of the stamp was symbolically unveiled by Sr. Raffaella Petrini, General Secretary of the Governorate and by the outgoing Ambassador of the Republic of Panama to the Holy See, H.E. Ms. Miroslava Rosas Vargas.

The unveiling ceremony took place on Wednesday evening, 21 August, in Rome’s Basilica of San Lorenzo in Damaso in the Palazzo della Cancelleria.

Among those present, were Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State, and Father Agustín Hernández Vidales, OFM, Rector Magnificent of the Pontifical Antonianum University.

At the end of the ceremony, Fr Antonio Pelayo Bombín, counsellor for Church affairs at the Embassy of Spain to the Holy See, presented a large volume titled, “Republic of Panama – Holy See 1923-2023, which retraces 100 years of diplomatic relations.

Earlier, Cardinal Parolin had celebrated Mass, to farewell outgoing Ambassador, H.E. Ms. Miroslava Rosas Vargas.

The following is the speech delivered by Sister Raffaella Petrini on the occasion:

I greet H.E. Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State, all the Authorities present, and in particular, H.E. Ms. Miroslava Rosas Vargas, Ambassador of Panama.

Today, we are sharing a moment of thanksgiving for the intense work you have undertaken in these years, whose fruits I am happy to say, include collaboration with the Governorate, thanks to which, 100 years of diplomatic relations between the Holy See and the Republic of Panama, have also been sealed philatelically, with the issue  of the stamp we will soon unveil.

Initiatives such as these help to raise interest in the larger public of collectors, but also to highlight the feeling of friendship that marks relations between the two States. And this is the message that we wished to convey in the image of the two flags converging towards a reassuring and well-wishing bright background.

Indeed, the solidity of the bond between the Holy See and the Republic of Panama was mentioned several times by Supreme Pontiffs in these 100 years, which Benedict XVI described as “constant and fruitful”, and thanks to which the work of the Church and of the State “converge” like our flags depicted here, “in seeking the common good of the same citizens, placing themselves at the service of their personal and social vocations” (Discourse of 30 October 2009).

In 1947, Pius XII, referring to the creation of the first diocese on the mainland of the New World - Santa Maria la Antigua (Saint Mary the Ancient) – had described Panama as “the first place on the American continent where an evangelizing plant had been placed (…) to give to the New World what is best and most divine of the Old World, a message of peace and love from our Lord Jesus Christ (cf. Discourse of 11 October 1947).

More recently, Pope Francis, who had just returned from a trip to Panama for World Youth Day, said he had met a “noble people  And nobility is not bought, it is generated, it is inherited, it is breathed, it is lived” (13 June 2019).

I would like to express my sincere admiration for the people you represent. I renew my best wishes for an ever fruitful work in favour of your country and assure you that I will remember you in my prayers.

Thank you.

Not a distant sovereign, but a tender Mother who is close to us

“From the earliest ages of the catholic church a Christian people, whether in time of triumph or more especially in time of crisis, has addressed prayers of petition and hymns of praise and veneration to the Queen of Heaven. And never has that hope wavered which they placed in the Mother of the Divine King, Jesus Christ; nor has that faith ever failed by which we are taught that Mary, the Virgin Mother of God, reigns with a mother's solicitude over the entire world, just as she is crowned in heavenly blessedness with the glory of a Queen”. With these words in the Encyclical Letter Ad Caeli Reginam, of 11 October 1954, Pius XII instituted the liturgical feast day of the “Queenship of the Blessed Virgin”.

The Pope of Catechism and of the First Holy Communion of children

Saint Pius X, in the world Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto, wrote the following words in his will and testament: “I was born poor, I have lived in poverty, and I wish to die poor”. He was a Pope from a humble social background, who was elected to the See of Peter, after going through all the steps of the ecclesiastical career: Chaplain, Parish Priest, Bishop, Cardinal and Patriarch.

A fascinating unicum

On Monday, 5 July 2010, during his address for the inauguration of the new fountain in the Vatican Gardens dedicated to Saint Joseph, Benedict XVI said, “It is a work that increases the artistic patrimony of this enchanting green space in Vatican City, full of historical and artistic testimonies of various epochs. Indeed, not only the lawns, the flowers, plants and trees, but also the towers, pavilions, small temples, fountains, statues and other buildings make this garden into a fascinating unicum”.

“For which reason, after we have poured forth prayers of supplication again and again to God, and have invoked the light of the Spirit of Truth, for the glory of Almighty God who has lavished his special affection upon the Virgin Mary, for the honor of her Son, the immortal King of the Ages and the Victor over sin and death, for the increase of the glory of that same august Mother, and for the joy and exultation of the entire Church; by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and by our own authority, we pronounce, declare, and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma: that the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory”.