VATICAN CITY

VATICAN CITY / CIVITATIS VATICANÆ - CITTÀ DEL VATICANO.

39th International Eucharistic Congress. Bogota Colombia.
Simplified map of South America.
Last stamp in a set of 3, issued on 13.10.1968.
Facial value: 220 Italian lire.
Printed by I.P.F. (Istituto Poligrafico dello Stato), Roma.
Printing: Photogravure.
Print: 2,215,000 copies.
Size: 24 x 40 mm.

Catalogs
- Bolaffi No. 463.
- Michel No. 540.
- Sassone No. 463.
- Scott No. 463.
- StampWorld No. 539.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 515.
- Unificato No. 463.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 481.

The International Eucharistic Congress is an assembly of the Catholic Church, called by the Pope, which meets for a few days in a city determined by the Holy See, to worship the Eucharist and guide the mission of the Catholic Church in the world. It brings together bishops, priests, religious men and women, and lay faithful presided over by the Pope himself or by a delegate appointed by him. The first International Eucharistic Congress was held in the French city of Lille in 1881. The 39th Eucharistic Congress was held in Bogotá in August 1968, and Pope Paul VI traveled there to close it. At the same time the 2nd General Conference of the Latin American Episcopate was held in the city of Medellín.

VATICAN CITY

VATICAN CITY / CIVITATIS VATICANÆ - CITTÀ DEL VATICANO.

1100th anniversary of the apostolate of the Saints Cyril and Methodius, 863-1963.
Relief map of the Great Moravia.
Second stamp in a set of 3, issued on 22.11.1963.
Face value: 70 Italian lire.
Printed by I.P.S. (Istituto Poligrafico dello Stato), Officina Carte Valori, Roma.
Printing: Photogravure.
Print: 1,326,000 copies.
Size: 30 x 40 mm.

Catalogs
- Bolaffi No. 373.
- Michel No. 437.
- Sassone No. 370.
- Scott No. 370.
- StampWorld No. 436.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 417.
- Unificato No. 370.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 388.

Cyril (826-869) and Methodius (815-885) were two brothers and Byzantine Christian theologians and missionaries. For their work evangelizing the Slavs, they are known as the "Apostles to the Slavs". They are credited with devising the Glagolitic script, the first alphabet used to transcribe Old Church Slavonic. Both are venerated in the Orthodox Church as saints. In 1880, Pope Leo XIII introduced their feast into the calendar of the Roman Catholic Church, and in 1980, Pope John Paul II declared them co-patron saints of Europe, together with Benedict of Nursia. The exact ethnic origins of the brothers are unknown, there is controversy as to whetherwere of Slavic or Byzantine Greek origin, or both. In 862, the brothers began the work which would give them their historical importance: that year Prince Rastislav of Great Moravia requested that Emperor Michael III and the Patriarch Photius send missionaries to evangelize his Slavic subjects. His motives in doing so were probably more political than religious.

-
Thanks to Vairo Gregori for his contribution (https://ternifil.org/).

VATICAN CITY

VATICAN CITY / CIVITATIS VATICANÆ - CITTÀ DEL VATICANO.

450th Anniversary of Thomas More execution.
Map of British Islands and Thomas More portrait.
First stamp in a set of 3, issued on 07.05.1985.
Face value: 250 Italian lire.
Design and engraving: Antonello Ciaburro.
Printed by Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato, Roma.
Printing: Offset lithography and recess.
Print: 850,000 copies.

Catalogues
- Michel No. 870.
- Scott No. 755.
- StampWorld No. 869.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 829.
- Unificato No. 773.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 773.

Thomas More (London, February 7, 1478 - July 6, 1535) was a prominent English Renaissance humanist who opposed the Protestant Reformation, leading polemics against the theology of Martin Luther, Huldrych Zwingli, John Calvin, and William Tyndale. He also opposed the separation of King Henry VIII from the Catholic Church, refusing to recognize his status as supreme head of the Church of England, and the annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. After refusing to take the Oath of Supremacy, he was found guilty of treason and executed by beheading. He left some written works, such as Utopia (1516), Life of Pico della Mirandola and Historia Richardi Tertii, and some epigrams. He was beatified along with 52 other martyrs by Pope Leo XIII in 1886, and proclaimed a saint by the Catholic Church by Pope Pius XI on May 19, 1935.

VATICAN CITY

VATICAN CITY / CIVITATIS VATICANÆ - CITTÀ DEL VATICANO.

Protection of the Venetian world heritage.
Representation of Venice on a map by Egnatio Danti (1536-1586) kept in the Vatican Museums.
Stamps in a set of 6 issued on 06.06.1972.
Face value: 50 Italian lire x 4.

Catalogues
- Bolaffi No. 519.
- Michel Nos. 599-602.
- Sassone No. 519.
- Scott No. 520. (?)
- StampWorls Nos. 598-601.
- Stanley Gibbons No. MS580.
- Unificato No. 519.
- Yvert et Tellier Nos. 537-540.

Egnatio or Ignazio Danti is the name by which Pellegrino Rainaldi Danti (1536-1586), mathematician, astronomer, cosmographer, painter and Italian Catholic religious is known. He painted 30 maps of the regions of the world (based on the printed editions published by Giacomo Gastaldi, Abraham Ortelius, Gerardus Mercator and others) in the Guardaroba of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence and, later, others of the regions of Italy in the newly built Vaticane's Galleria delle Carte Geografiche, a project started at the beginning of the year 1580 and completed 18 months later; Each map included a perspective of the most important city in the region (the stamp represents one of them).

VATICAN CITY

VATICAN CITY / CIVITATIS VATICANÆ - CITTÀ DEL VATICANO.

1900 Anniversary of the arrival of Saint Paul in Rome.
Map of the Eastern Mediterranean with the itinerary of the trip.
First stamp in a set of 6, issued on 13.06.1961.
Face value: 10 Italian lire.
Design: F. Grassellini.
Printed by the Istituto Poligrafico dello Stato, Officina Carte Valori, Roma.
Print: 602,000 copies.

Accused of having desecrated the Temple of Jerusalem, Paul of Tarsus (the Apostle, born between the years 5 and 10 AD) was arrested and sent to the Roman procurator of the province of Judea, who resided in Caesarea Maritima, before whom he defended himself against the accusations. The procurator postponed the trial and left Paul in prison for two years, after which Paul appealed to the Emperor, and was sent to Rome as a prisoner; it came after a long sea voyage. There he was deprived of liberty for two more years, and according to tradition he died martyred and beheaded by order of Nero on an undetermined date, between the years 64 and 67.