Blessed Don 'Pino' Giuseppe Puglisi
25th Anniversary of His Death

The 25th anniversary of the death of Blessed Giuseppe Puglisi is marked by a €1,00 stamp printed in a miniature sheet of six stamps. In the image, Father Puglisi is surrounded by supporting parishioners. The stamp was designed by Milan artist Marco Ventura. Father Giuseppe "Pino" Puglisi (1937-1993) was born in Brancaccio, a working-class section of Palermo, Sicily. He entered a seminary at age 16 and was ordained a priest in July 1960. He chose to be assigned to San Gaetano Parish in Palermo. He was noted for working with children and families in his parish, especially to set up shelters for those who needed protection, as well as encouraging children to avoid criminal and illegal activities as well as drugs, and to stay in school. In particular, he criticized the Mafia, whose activities plagued his parishioners, and for which the Mafia caused fear, given protection for decades by omerta, a code of "imposed silence," regarding their activities. Families who followed Father Puglisi were threatened. Puglisi was assassinated by Mafiosi and died on his birthday on 15 September 1993. His assassins and their associates were later convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. One of Father Puglisi's most repeated sayings was "Se ognuno fa qualcosa, allora si puo fare molto" ("If everyone does something, then we can do a lot"), which serves as a call to speak out against the Mafia and not be cowed into silence and fear. Father Puglisi was declared a servant of God in 1999 and in 2012 Pope Benedict XVI approved Puglisi being declared a martyr. He was beatified on 25 May 2013. Technical Details: Scott Catalogue - 1673 - 1673M Date Issued - 06 February 2018 Face Value - €1,00 Perforations - 13.25x13.25 Printing Process - Offset Printer - Printex (Malta) Max Printed - 360,000

(Source - Vatican Notes: Volume: 66 Issue: 376 Page: 4-7 en.wikipedia.org)