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Solidarity, fraternal help, assistance without distinction are the values that the Vatican Post Office wished to celebrate with the joint issue of the commemorative stamp for the 160th anniversary of the foundation of the Italian Red Cross, with the postal administrations of Italy, San Marino and the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. The stamp depicts Italian Red Cross volunteers involved in rescue operations at the site of the collapse of the Polcevera Viaduct, known as the Morandi Bridge, in Genoa on 14 August 2018. The stamp was unveiled by the engineer, Antonino Intersimone, Director of the Directorate of Telecommunications and Information Systems of the Governorate.
A commemorative stamp, issued by the Post and Philately Service of the Governorate of Vatican City State, for the bicentenary of Rome’s Pontifical Institute of Saint Apollinaire was unveiled during a presentation held on Monday afternoon, 4 November. Fr. Luigi Fioriti, Professor of Italian and Latin, outlined the details of the stamp to an audience that included the Institute’s Board of Directors, numerous professors, students, staff members, parents and alumni, at the Institute’s headquarters on Viale Vaticano.
The world is in need of peace, especially today, when conflicts are widespread in many areas, and are continuously being exacerbated, despite international efforts. In order to contribute to peace building and to underscore that peace is a fundamental universal value, Vatican City State and Italy, through the Ministry of Enterprises and Made In Italy, have issued a joint stamp, which was officially presented on Thursday morning, 14 November, at the headquarters of the Foreign Press Association in Rome.
Solidarietà, aiuto fraterno, assistenza senza distinzioni. Sono questi i valori che le Poste Vaticane hanno voluto celebrare con l'emissione congiunta del francobollo commemorativo per i 160 anni dalla fondazione della Croce Rossa Italiana. Lo hanno fatto con le amministrazioni postali di Italia, San Marino e Sovrano Militare Ordine di Malta.
Hercules Mastai, the colossal bronze statue named after Pius IX, who included it among the collections of the Vatican Museums, has undergone a complex intervention to preserve it. The restoration project was possible thanks to the contribution of Rick and Lisa Altig of the Northwest Chapter of the Patrons of the Arts in the Vatican Museums. On Tuesday, 3 December, the Directorate of Museums and Cultural Heritage held a workshop dedicated to furthering knowledge on “Hercules Mastai – From its Finding to its Restoration”, and to providing details of its restoration.
This year, the Nativity Scene that is set up in Saint Peter’s Square each year for the Christmas season, will be donated by Grado, a lagoon rich with history and tradition located in the Province of Gorizia. The Christmas tree, a majestic red fir tree standing more than 29 metres tall, will be donated by Ledro in the Province of Trento, and raised beside the Nativity Scene.
During the celebrations of Holy Week in the Vatican thousands of multicolored flowers and plants, originating in Italy and Holland, adorned St. Peter's Basilica and St. Peter’s Square. In collaboration with the generous benefactors who donated the beautiful plants and flowers to the Pope, in honor of this most significant liturgical season, the gardeners and workers of the Garden and Environment Service of the Directorate of Infrastructure and Services of the Governorate once again presented spectacular arrangements and care of detail for the faithful and multitude of pilgrims that had arrived in Rome for Holy Week.
The Vatican City State announces that the commemorative stamps of the Sede Vacante MMXXV(2025) for postage use are on sale at the Vatican Post Offices, including the general public accessible sales points located in St. Peter's Square.
The philatelic series of the Sede Vacante MMXXV will also be available soon with a print run in line with market demand through the e-shop sales channels of the Commercializzazione Filatelica e Numismatica office, which will be reactivated this summer.
The stamps are divided into four postal values (€ 1.25 - € 1.30 - € 2.45 - € 3.20) and will be sold at their relative face value.
Fourteen paintings, depicting the Stations of the Way of the Cross, by Gaetano Previati, were unveiled on Friday, 7 March, in Saint Peter’s Basilica, where they will remain throughout the Lenten Season, to give the faithful an opportunity to contemplate the mysteries of the Passion of the Lord.
Father Sabino Maffeo, SJ, died peacefully on 21 January in the Jesuit Saint Peter Canisius Residence, in Rome’s Via dei Penitenziari, at the age of 102. He spent 87 of those as a member of the Society of Jesus.
In his Apostolic Letter issued Motu Proprio, Fratello Sole of 21 June 2024, Pope Francis entrusted Cardinal Fernando Vérgez Alzaga, President of the Governorate of Vatican City State, and Archbishop Giordano Piccinotti, President of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Holy See, with the “the task of constructing an agrivoltaic plant located within the extraterritorial zone of Santa Maria di Galeria that will guarantee, not only the power supply of the radio station there, but also the complete energy sustenance of Vatican City State”.
The Philatelic and Numismatic Sales Office is pleased to announce that the new emissions planned for the Holy Year 2025 will be available soon.
Hundreds of people gathered in Saint Peter's Square to pray the Rosary for Pope Francis. Among them, in addition to young people, families, consecrated men and women and lay people, were the cardinals residing in Rome, heads of Dicasteries, members of the Roman Curia and representatives of the Bodies of Government of Vatican City State.
On Wednesday afternoon, 18 December, Samsung Electronics Italia s.p.a. formalized its donation of digitaltotems and latest generation LED giant screens to Vatican City State, with the signing of the deed of donation at the Palace of the Governorate. The devices will be placed in the Vatican Museums and in Saint Peter’s Square, and will be operational by the end of December.
Pope Francis’ visit to the 2nd Feast of the Family, held on Saturday, 11 May, in San Michele Arcangelo Square in Vatican City State’s Governorate, was a welcome surprise. The Pontiff paused to speak to participants on the feast day promoted by the Governorate, and offered a special greeting to children and the elderly. He was welcomed by Cardinal Fernando Vérgez Alzaga, President of the Pontifical Commission of Vatican City State and President of the Governorate, by Sister Raffaella Petrini, General Secretary, by Giuseppe Puglisi-Alibrandi, Vice General Secretary, and by Father Franco Fontana, Director of the Community of Salesians in the Vatican and chaplain of the Directorate of Security and Civil Protection Services and of the Vatican Museums.
È stata una gradita sorpresa la visita di Papa Francesco alla seconda edizione della Festa della famiglia, sabato 11 maggio, nel piazzale San Michele Arcangelo del Governatorato dello Stato della Città del Vaticano. Il Pontefice si è soffermato a parlare con i partecipanti all'iniziativa promossa dal Governatorato e ha salutato in modo particolare i bambini e gli anziani. Ad accoglierlo, il Cardinale Fernando Vérgez Alzaga, Presidente della Pontificia Commissione per lo Stato della Città del Vaticano e Presidente dello stesso Governatorato, Suor Raffaella Petrini, Segretario Generale, Giuseppe Puglisi-Alibrandi, Vice-Segretario Generale, e don Franco Fontana, direttore della comunità salesiana in Vaticano e cappellano della Direzione dei servizi di sicurezza e di protezione civile e dei Musei Vaticani.
The Synod is “an experience of listening and dialogue among different perspectives and attitudes”. The Synod was talked about in Houston too, during an address by the Secretary General of the Governorate of Vatican City State, to a conference aimed at business leaders, promoted by the Lumen Institute, held on Saturday morning, 26 October.
Twenty-three students from Spain, studying for the 2025 Master's Degree, organized by the Cadena de Ondas Populares Españolas, better known as Radio COPE, met with Sr. Raffaella Petrini, Secretary General of the Governorate on Friday morning, 24 January, at the Palace of the Governorate.
Christmas is always an opportunity to gather together in friendship and communion, as it is also for those who are united in their vocation and mission to preserve the artistic, historical and cultural heritage of the Vatican Museums in order to pass it on to the next generations.
Catholic higher education plays “a very important role”, because the Catholic Church “is still a credible Institution, which people trust because of her ability to be in favour of the human person and to be a mediator in seeking solutions to the more delicate problems in society and in our common life”, said Sr. Raffaella Petrini, Secretary General of the Governorate of Vatican City State, during her address at the Annual Meeting of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities (ACCU), on Sunday morning, 2 February, at the Grand Hyatt Washington in the capital of the United States of America.
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