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Pope Francis announced a Holy Year of Mercy, beginning 8 December 2015 (Feast of the Immaculate Conception) and continuing until 20 November 2016 (Solemnity of Christ the King). To mark the Jubilee of Mercy, ten stamps (two stamps each on five different occasions from 19 November 2015 to 17 November 2016) were issued focusing on the Seven Corporal Works of Mercy. Six commemorative Jubilee of Mercy stamps were reviewed to date. On 9 September 2016, two additional stamps,"visit the sick" and "visit the imprisoned", were issued and reviewed below. The Vatican issued the final two stamps on a later date during 2016 to complete the stamp series to recognize the Jubilee. The stamps were designed by artist Orietta Rossi and printed in sheets of ten. The €0,95 stamp depicts persons visiting the imprisoned. The design includes multiple arms being extended to the visitors. The €1,00 value depicts a woman visiting a sick person, demonstrating compassion. Both stamps relate to comments by Pope Francis speaking of prisoners that "There is no place beyond the reach of God's mercy, no space or person it cannot touch." Vatican City issued stamps commemorating the Corporal Works of Mercy in 1960, a set of definitive stamps based on the terra cotta designs of Giovanni della Robbia from the Ospedale del Ceppo in Pistoria (Tuscany). View the reference below for an interesting article on Della Robbia and the 1960 stamps that appeared in the 2014 Vatican Notes: Volume: 62 Issue: 359 Page: 16-25. Reference: The Della Robbia Family - Art and Philately Technical Details: Scott Catalogue - 1632 - 1633 Date Issued - 13 September 2016 Face Value - €0,95, €1,00 Perforations - 13.25 x 13.25 Printing Process - Offset Printer - Cartor (France) Max Printed - 150,000 |
| (Source - Vatican Notes: Volume: 64 Issue: 370 Page: 4-6) |
