The Journeys of Pope Francis around the World Year 2023

The Vatican miniature sheet commemorating the apostolic journeys of 2023, as always, aims to evoke in a single illustration the countries visited by the Holy Father, through the depiction of their most emblematic landmarks or figures representing their people. The Holy Father’s journey to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan is represented here by a local boy and girl. The visit to Hungary is recalled by the image of the Co-Cathedral Basilica of Saint Stephen in Budapest, where the Holy Father met with bishops, priests, deacons, and pastoral workers. For the visit to Lisbon, Portugal, the chosen image is the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fatima, where the Holy Rosary was prayed in the Chapel of the Apparitions together with young people who were ill. Mongolia is represented by a figure dressed in traditional local clothing. Lastly, the Basilica of Notre Dame de la Garde in Marseille recalls the visit for the closing of the “Rencontres Méditerranéennes,” during which Pope Francis emphasized the fundamental role of the Mare Nostrum—the Mediterranean Sea—as a space of unity and encounter among different ethnicities, religions, and cultures.