The World Youth Day organization clarified on Tuesday that the commemorative stamp unveiled by the Vatican only aims to encourage young people to meet the Pope by removing indications that identify him with the Estado Novo or Portuguese colonialism.
On Monday, the Vatican unveiled a stamp for World Youth Day (WYD) 2023 in Lisbon, inspired by Padrão dos Descobrimentos, featuring Pope Francis in the place of Infante D. Enrique and with young people in the place of navigators.
Following the publication of the image of the seal, several negative comments were posted on social media, alluding to the pictorial representations of the National Secretariat for Propaganda Estado Novo and Colonialism.
The design of the stamp, issued together with the commemorative stamp with the WYD logo, was designed by Stefano Morri.
“Just as the helmsman D. Enrique leads the team in opening up a new world, so Pope Francis leads the youth and the Church under the seal of the Vatican,” explains a note published on the Vatican News website. .
Rosa Pedroso Lima, spokesperson for the WYD Lisbon 2023 Foundation, told Lusa that “this is a WYD promotional stamp prepared by the Vatican’s philately and numismatic services.”
“The seal was made by the Italian illustrator Stefano Morri, who worked many times with the numismatic service of the Vatican” and whose reading of the seal’s illustration is “the depiction of the Pope on a monument in Lisbon, symbolizing, in a way, an allegory, the boat of St. Peter and the Pope, leading the youth and The Church in a new era,” explained the representative of the Foundation.
For Rosa Pedroso Lima, “there will always be different readings of what is in a work of art, be it a stamp or an illustration. This is a reading that the Vatican is doing and the goal is to promote World Youth Day.”
“Other readings and other purposes are offensive to the intentions expressed by the Vatican,” he added, emphasizing that the world knows that “Pope Francis is a Pope committed to respect, breaking down walls, expanding borders, communicating with peoples, cultures and religions, and this is the main message of the Pope. It has always been, always will be, and always will be on World Youth Day.”
According to the official, “other interpretations are always possible, but this is the reading that the Holy See does and the message that the Pope conveys”, the pontiff “does not suspect of promoting any idea of segregation, difference”, but rather of “union between peoples, races , religions and cultures.
The stamp in question has a denomination of 3.10 euros and a circulation of 45,000 copies.
The round format commemorative stamp, which represents the official logo of WYD in Lisbon, will be used by the post office Arco delle Campane (in San Pedro Square) on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Lisbon has been chosen by Pope Francis for the next World Youth Day, which will take place from 1 to 6 August this year, with the main ceremonies taking place in Tagus Park, north of the Parc des Nations, on the banks of the river. Tagus, on lands in the municipalities of Lisbon and Loures.
WYD was born at the initiative of Pope John Paul II after the success of the meeting organized in 1985 in Rome as part of the International Year of Youth.
The first edition took place in 1986 in Rome, having already passed through Buenos Aires (1987), Santiago de Compostela (1989), Czestochowa (1991), Denver (1993), Manila (1995), Paris (1997), Rome ( 2000), Toronto (2002), Cologne (2005), Sydney (2008), Madrid (2011), Rio de Janeiro (2013), Krakow (2016) and Panama (2019).
This year’s edition, which will be closed by the Pope, was originally scheduled for 2022 but was delayed due to the covid-19 pandemic.
Pope Francis was the first to register for WMJLisboa2023 on October 23, 2022 at the Vatican after the Angelus celebration. This gesture marked the worldwide opening of registration for the World Youth Meeting with the Pope.
To date, over 600,000 young people have begun the registration process.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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