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Five hundred colored balloons made of natural rubber - all biodegradable, including the rope, expression of the vocation to protect creation of the Governorate - launched into the sky to express joy for meeting with Pope Francis. On each were impressed the words of the Pontiff: "To you, dear boy, to you, dear girl, you are precious in the eyes of God".
“Faith and science can be united in charity, provided that science is put at the service of the men and woman of our time and not misused to harm or even destroy them. I encourage you, then, to press forward to the outer limits of human knowledge. For there, we can come to experience the God of love, who fulfils the deepest yearnings of the human heart”, Pope Francis said on Thursday morning, 20 June, to participants in the second international conference dedicated to Msgr. Georges Lemaître (1894-1966), the Belgian physicist who developed what is today known as the Big Bang theory.
“Following the example of Saint Michael Archangel, be like the angels, who protect and serve”, Pope Francis said to Gendarmes on Saturday afternoon, 5 October, during Holy Mass at the Altar of the Chair in Saint Peter’s Basilica, on the occasion of the Feast of Saint Michael Archangel, Patron Saint of the Gendarmerie Corps. The celebration had to be postponed from 29 September, due to the Pope’s Apostolic Journey in Luxembourg and Belgium.
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.
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.
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.
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”.
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.
Sister Raffaella Petrini, General Secretary of the Governorate of Vatican City State, has received an honorary degree in human sciences from Seton Hall University. The official ceremony took place during the 168th Commencement ceremony on Tuesday, 21 May, in the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, USA.
La Direzione dei Servizi di Sicurezza e Protezione Civile del Governatorato dello Stato della Città del Vaticano e l’Agenzia per la cybersicurezza nazionale della Repubblica Italiana (Acn) hanno siglato un Protocollo d’intesa sullo scambio informativo, le attività di formazione e i progetti di cybersicurezza per incrementare le capacità e competenze tecniche e scientifiche in materia di prevenzione del rischio legato alla criminalità nel cyberspazio.
The Directorate of Security and Civil Protection Services of the Governatorate of the Vatican City State and the Agency for National Cybersecurity of the Italian Republic (ACN) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the exchange of information, Training activities and cyber security projects to enhance technical and scientific skills and expertise in the prevention of cyber-crime risk.
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.
The special “Marisa Bellisario” award, promoted by the Foundation that bears the same name, was conferred on Sister Raffaella Petrini. General Secretary of the Governorate of Vatican City State.
The award ceremony for the 36th edition was held in Rome on 14 June.
The Secretary General of the Governorate, Mr. Raffaella Petrini, attended the 142nd Supreme Convention of the Knights of Columbus, which took place from 6 to 8 August in Québec City, Canada.
Sr. Raffaella Petrini, Secretary General of the Governorate of Vatican City State, will lead a State Delegation at the World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly (WTSA-24), scheduled to be held in New Delhi, India, from 15 to 24 October 2024. During the Assembly, which will meet after the Global Standard Symposium (GSS-24), which will take place on 14 October, Sr. Petrini will deliver an official address.
In honour of the first Pope, the Garden and Environment Service of the Directorate for Infrastructure and Services of the Governatorate of Vatican City State has renewed a tradition that dates back to the end of the 18th century and was not resumed since 2017.
Ninety years since their construction, the astronomical domes of the Pontifical Palace of Castel Gandolfo will be open to visitors for the first time ever. Visitors will be able to see the Vatican Observatory’s two perfectly functioning domes: the “major dome”, which has a diameter of 8.5 meters, and is equipped with a Visual Telescope for the observation of stars and planets; and the “minor dome”, which has a diameter of 8 metres and a Double Astrograph, used for photographic surveys of the sky and of the position of the stars. A restricted number of visitors wil
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