(31-01-2023) In Memory of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI
The postage stamp issue In Memory of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI on the occasion of the thirtieth day (month) after his death intends to be a sign of the fragrance of gratitude toward the late pontiff, as mentioned by Pope Francis in his homily for the Solemn Requiem Mass on 5 January. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI lived trusting abandonment profoundly throughout his entire life, looking to the Virgin Mary, as he himself said during his General Audience on 19 December 2012. “Yet those who — like Mary — open themselves totally to God, come to accept the divine will, even though it is mysterious, although it often does not correspond with their own wishes, and is a sword that pierces their soul, as the elderly Simeon would say prophetically to Mary when Jesus was presented in the Temple (cf. Lk 2:35).” Given the total faithfulness of the Pope Emeritus to this purpose, we can share in the joyful hope with which Pope Francis concluded his requiem homily, “Benedict, faithful friend of the Bridegroom, may your joy be complete as you hear his voice, now and forever!”
Data sheet
- Face value
- € 1.25
- Format
- 40 x 30 mm
- Perforation
- 11 ½
- Sheet size
- 100 x 170 mm
- Sheet of
- 10 stamps
- Printing process
- Offset 4 colors
- Printer
- Bpost (Belgium)
- Mintange
- 105,000 complete series