For the first time, Vatican City has won the Best Gold Coin award in the prestigious international Coin of the Year (COTY) competition. The winning coin is the 50-euro gold issue, released by the Governorate in 2024 on the theme “War and Peace.”

The artwork is by Chiara Principe, a young artist from Rome who for years has created images for the Governorate's Vatican numismatic collections.

Hospitality, Compassion, Prayer

In the heart of Albano, within the historic and faith-filled walls of the Sanctuary of Santa Maria della Rotonda, a day rich in spirituality, sharing, and closeness to the most vulnerable unfolded. On Sunday morning, August 17, Pope Leo XIV celebrated the Eucharist together with people assisted by the local Caritas and its volunteers, transforming the city’s historic center into a lively place of encounter and fraternity.

In Mary is our destiny

“When in this life we ‘choose life’ (cf. Dt 30:19), then in Mary, assumed into Heaven, we have reason to see our destiny. She is given to us as the sign that the Resurrection of Jesus was not an isolated event, an exception. All of us, in Christ, can swallow up death (cf. 1 Cor 15:54).” Thus spoke Pope Leo XIV during the concelebrated Eucharist in the Pontifical Parish of St. Thomas of Villanova (Castel Gandolfo) on Friday morning, August 15, on the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

A calling that sets one on the journey

A calling that becomes contagious—that of Saint Clare of Assisi—when, in San Damiano, even her mother Ortolana and her sister Beatrice embraced the same form of life. This is confirmation that it was not an isolated choice but rather “a calling that even today sets us on the journey, if we listen to it—a calling that provokes processes of inner transformation”. Thus spoke the Bishop of Albano, Monsignor Vincenzo Viva, as he presided over the concelebrated Eucharist on the feast of Saint Clare of Assisi, Monday afternoon, August 11, at the Monastery of the Immaculate Conception of the Poor Clares, located within the territory of the Pontifical Villas. The latter are administered by the Governorate of Vatican City State.

Between Passion and Professionalism

She was the first woman to work in the Paintings and Wooden Materials Restoration Laboratory of the Vatican Museums and, in 2017, appointed to head it as chief restorer. Officially retiring on August 1st she can now take stock of her successful career in one of the most prestigious restoration laboratories in the art world, where she worked for 35 years. In this interview with www.vaticanstate.va, Francesca Persegati retraces the history of the laboratory and shares some memorable challenges during her career.