Decade on Ecosystem Restoration - 4th Year

As part of the series dedicated to the “Decade on Ecosystem Restoration” the Vatican Post and Philately Service is issuing a new postage stamp that this year highlights the conservation of glaciers, a topic of urgent relevance and critical environmental importance. The year 2025 has been proclaimed by the United Nations as the International Year of Glacier Preservation, an opportunity to draw global attention to the essential role glaciers play in climate regulation, water supply, and biodiversity. This stamp issue is inspired by the prophetic message of the encyclical Laudato si’ by the late Pope Francis, who consistently emphasized the pressing need to protect our “common home” through concrete and responsible action. With this initiative, the Vatican Post and Philately Service aims not only to offer a valuable stamp and collector's item, but also a tool for raising awareness, spreading a message of hope and shared responsibility for the preservation of our glaciers and, with them, the entire environmental balance. The stamp depicts a mountain landscape, specifically the summit of Mount Morrone in Abruzzo, the hermitage of the future Pope Celestine V, to whom the Conclave caravan is about to announce his election as Supreme Pontiff.