Just recently my postman came to the house to hand in some materials from the Vatican Postal Service. The mail included the Apostolic Journeys of His Holiness Benedict XVI - 2010.The beautiful stamps released on November 18, 2011 featured the different pastoral journeys of the Holy Father outside of Italy in 2010.
The first stamp shows the Pope in his April travel to Malta for the 195th anniversary of the shipwreck of Paul of Tarsus.
The following month, he went to Portugal for the 10th anniversary of the beatification of two of the three visionaries of Our Lady of Fatima. His itinerary included visits to the cities of Lisbon, Fatima, and Porto. On May 13, he celebrated the Mass to highlight the anniversary of the first apparition at the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima where 500 thousand people came to attend.
The third stamp showcases His visit to Cyprus, the first Pope to come to this island where he met with the Archbishop of the Orthodox Church to renew and strengthen Catholic-Orthodox relations.
His fourth journey that took place in September features the stamp highlighting his trip to the United Kingdom where he met with the Archbishop of Canterbury. During his England travel, he beatified Cardinal John Henry Newman, an Anglican priest who became a Catholic.
The last stamp depicts the Pope's last journey for the year where he went to Spain and took a pilgrimage to the Shrine at Santiago de Compostela then to Barcelona where he consecrated the Sagrada Familia church thereby elevating it to a minor basilica.
The five stamps done by Giorgio Borghesani are valued at 0.60, 0.75, 1.40, 1.60 and 2.00. All the stamps are in Euro.
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