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Pope Francis was born Jorge Mario Bergoglio on 17 December 1936 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Bergoglio worked for a time as a bouncer and a janitor as a young man before training to be a chemist and working as a technician in a food science laboratory. After recovering from a severe illness of pneumonia and cysts, he was inspired to join the Jesuits in 1958. He was ordained a Catholic priest 13 December 1969, and from 1973 to 1979 was the Jesuit provincial superior in Argentina. He became the Archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998 and was created a cardinal in 2001 by Pope John Paul II. He led the Argentine Church during the December 2001 riots in Argentina. The administrations of Néstor Kirchner and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner considered him to be a political rival. Following the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI on 28 February 2013, a papal conclave elected Bergoglio as his successor on 13 March. He chose Francis as his papal name in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi. The Vatican issued 2 stamps to recognize the 50th anniversary of the Ordination of Jorge Mario Bergoglio (Pope Francis.) Artist Raul Berzosa produced the paintings used for the two stamps. The €1,10 stamp depicts Father Bergoglio as a young priest with the Church of San Jose in Buenos Aires and Our Lady, Un-doer of Knots, an image he discovered during a visit to Germany. The €1,15 value is a painting of Pope Francis with the Basilica of St. Peter and the image of the Merciful Lord ("Jesus I trust in You") in the background. The stamps are issued in sheets of ten stamps. Two stamps and coin cards include the stamp and a €5 Vatican City coin. Technical Details: Scott Catalogue - 1728 - 1729 Date Issued - 04 November 2019 Face Value - €1,10, €1,15 Perforations - 13x13.25 Printing Process - Offset Printer - Cartor (France) Max Printed - 60,000 |
| (Source - Vatican Notes: Volume: 68 Issue: 383 Page: 4-7 en.wikipedia.org) |
