Select your language
Select your language
The 12th anniversary of the consecration of the Cathedral of the Greek-Catholic Church in Kyiv, the 20th anniversary of the return of the See of the Father and Head of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church from Lviv to Kyiv, and the 30th anniversary of the re-establishment of the Metropolitanate of Kyiv: these are the three anniversaries that the Vatican Postal and Philately Service of the Directorate of Telecommunications and Information Systems celebrates with the issuance of a postage stamp and special “die emissionis” postmark, an illustrative folder, and a commemorative envelope.
An economic dimension “essentially understood as being at the service of the person, and thus directed at meeting his or her needs, rather than at the rationalization of scarce resources,” and making economic choices as “integral tools of the Church’s missionary action, through which the evangelical word can be concretely manifested” realizing that spirit of solidarity which breaks with the throwaway culture promoted by the ‘technocratic paradigm.’
Solidarietà, aiuto fraterno, assistenza senza distinzioni. Sono questi i valori che le Poste Vaticane hanno voluto celebrare con l'emissione congiunta del francobollo commemorativo per i 160 anni dalla fondazione della Croce Rossa Italiana. Lo hanno fatto con le amministrazioni postali di Italia, San Marino e Sovrano Militare Ordine di Malta.
Hercules Mastai, the colossal bronze statue named after Pius IX, who included it among the collections of the Vatican Museums, has undergone a complex intervention to preserve it. The restoration project was possible thanks to the contribution of Rick and Lisa Altig of the Northwest Chapter of the Patrons of the Arts in the Vatican Museums. On Tuesday, 3 December, the Directorate of Museums and Cultural Heritage held a workshop dedicated to furthering knowledge on “Hercules Mastai – From its Finding to its Restoration”, and to providing details of its restoration.
This year, the Nativity Scene that is set up in Saint Peter’s Square each year for the Christmas season, will be donated by Grado, a lagoon rich with history and tradition located in the Province of Gorizia. The Christmas tree, a majestic red fir tree standing more than 29 metres tall, will be donated by Ledro in the Province of Trento, and raised beside the Nativity Scene.
From Val d’Ultimo, in the province of Bolzano, comes the majestic Norway spruce, 25 meters tall and weighing 8,000 kilograms, which will be set up in St. Peter’s Square for Christmas 2025. It was felled at five o’clock on, 24 November, and has been sent to Rome.
For Christmas 2025 the Nativity scene for St. Peter’s Square, the one for the Paul VI Hall, and the monumental evergreen tree will come from the towns of Lagundo and Ultimo, from the Diocese of Nocera Inferiore-Sarno and from the nation of Costa Rica.
During the celebrations of Holy Week in the Vatican thousands of multicolored flowers and plants, originating in Italy and Holland, adorned St. Peter's Basilica and St. Peter’s Square. In collaboration with the generous benefactors who donated the beautiful plants and flowers to the Pope, in honor of this most significant liturgical season, the gardeners and workers of the Garden and Environment Service of the Directorate of Infrastructure and Services of the Governorate once again presented spectacular arrangements and care of detail for the faithful and multitude of pilgrims that had arrived in Rome for Holy Week.
Thousands of multicolored flowers and plants from Italy and the Netherlands will adorn St. Peter’s Square and the Basilica for the celebrations of Holy Week. Their arrangement and artistic creations will be carried out by the staff of the Gardens and Environment Service of the Directorate of Infrastructure and Services of the Governorate of the Vatican City State, in collaboration with the entities who have donated the plants and flowers.
The Vatican City State announces that the commemorative stamps of the Sede Vacante MMXXV(2025) for postage use are on sale at the Vatican Post Offices, including the general public accessible sales points located in St. Peter's Square.
The philatelic series of the Sede Vacante MMXXV will also be available soon with a print run in line with market demand through the e-shop sales channels of the Commercializzazione Filatelica e Numismatica office, which will be reactivated this summer.
The stamps are divided into four postal values (€ 1.25 - € 1.30 - € 2.45 - € 3.20) and will be sold at their relative face value.
Fourteen paintings, depicting the Stations of the Way of the Cross, by Gaetano Previati, were unveiled on Friday, 7 March, in Saint Peter’s Basilica, where they will remain throughout the Lenten Season, to give the faithful an opportunity to contemplate the mysteries of the Passion of the Lord.
In the final days of February, a follow-up meeting took place between Professors Daniel Joyce and Frank Klassner of Villanova University in Pennsylvania and the Directorate of Telecommunications and Information Systems of the Governorate. The meeting forms part of an educational endeavor established in recent years and represents a continuation of a previous visit by the Directorate’s delegation—Davide Giordano and Monica Giuliano—to the American university in January 2026.
During the 31st Annual Rector’s Dinner of the Pontifical North American College in Rome, held on Thursday evening, April 16, Monsignor Thomas W. Powers, presented the Rector’s Awards to the President of the Governorate of Vatican City State, Sr. Raffaella Petrini, and to the American couple Curtis and Michaelann Martin.
Father Sabino Maffeo, SJ, died peacefully on 21 January in the Jesuit Saint Peter Canisius Residence, in Rome’s Via dei Penitenziari, at the age of 102. He spent 87 of those as a member of the Society of Jesus.
In his Apostolic Letter issued Motu Proprio, Fratello Sole of 21 June 2024, Pope Francis entrusted Cardinal Fernando Vérgez Alzaga, President of the Governorate of Vatican City State, and Archbishop Giordano Piccinotti, President of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Holy See, with the “the task of constructing an agrivoltaic plant located within the extraterritorial zone of Santa Maria di Galeria that will guarantee, not only the power supply of the radio station there, but also the complete energy sustenance of Vatican City State”.
The Philatelic and Numismatic Sales Office is pleased to announce that the new emissions planned for the Holy Year 2025 will be available soon.
The Governorate of the Vatican City State is pleased to announce that an agreement has been reached with a leading operator in the food retail sector.
Hundreds of people gathered in Saint Peter's Square to pray the Rosary for Pope Francis. Among them, in addition to young people, families, consecrated men and women and lay people, were the cardinals residing in Rome, heads of Dicasteries, members of the Roman Curia and representatives of the Bodies of Government of Vatican City State.
As part of AI for Good summit, and at the conclusion of the week organized by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) within the framework of the WSIS+20 High-Level Event 2025, the morning of July 11 featured a particularly significant event: the Ambassadors Roundtable, a high-level discussion platform that brought together ambassadors and permanent representatives from major international missions to the United Nations in Geneva. Among them was Archbishop Ettore Balestrero, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations Office and Specialized Agencies in Geneva.
On Wednesday afternoon, 18 December, Samsung Electronics Italia s.p.a. formalized its donation of digitaltotems and latest generation LED giant screens to Vatican City State, with the signing of the deed of donation at the Palace of the Governorate. The devices will be placed in the Vatican Museums and in Saint Peter’s Square, and will be operational by the end of December.
Select your language