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<img height='275'src='http://vaticanstamps.org/VPS/images/296/1838.jpg'> 	
 Scott #1838
 Value: €2.45
 Perforation: 13 x 13 ¼
 Issued: 11-23-2023
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Blessed Eduardo Francisco Pironio was an Argentine Catholic prelate who served in the Roman Curia from 1975 to 1996. He was named a cardinal in 1976 by Pope Paul VI, and Cardinal-Bishop of Sabina-Poggio in 1995. He was beatified on December 16, 2023, and the stamp above was issued just prior to that event on November 23, 2023.
 
Eduardo Francisco Pironio was one of 23 brothers and sisters who immigrated from Italy to Argentina with their parents. His spiritual life was focused on Eucharistic and Marian devotion and veneration of the saints. He was born on December 3, 1920, ordained in 1943, named an Auxiliary Bishop of La Plata in 1964, and became Bishop of Mar La Plata in 1972. Mar La Plata is about 265 miles from Buenos Aries. He played a lead role in implementing the directives of the Second Vatican Council in Argentina. Per the CFN Vatican write-up:
<blockquote>“the Cardinal’s episcopal motto, ‘Christus in vobis spes gloriae’ (Christ in you, the hope of glory), from the Letter to the Colossians 1:27, gives witness to the importance and centrality of the virtue of hope in his spirituality and theology, being for him the way to be a Christian”.
</blockquote>
During the 20th Century, Argentina experienced significant political turmoil. There were periods where the military ran the government and periods of autocratic leaders such as Juan Peron. During this time, the Catholic Church of Argentina had a dilemma--on the one hand fearful of communism from the left, while on the other hand autocratic and military leaders from the right who were ruthless and murderers. In 1955, Blessed Pironio was threatened and arrested by the Argentine Anticommunist Alliance, a Peronist and fascist political terrorist group. He was subsequently released. One of Blessed Pironio‘s collaborators in ministry to the poor, Maria del Carmin Maggi, was kidnapped and murdered in 1975. Today, Argentina has a representative democracy, but it has experienced decades of instability and violence. Argentina continues to deal with economic instability and a high level of poverty.
 
In 1976 Pope St. Paul VI elevated Blessed Pironio to Prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for Religious. A valid question is whether his new assignment in Rome was made because of the political instability in Argentina. There were those who claimed that Blessed Pironio was a communist. Isabel Peron was overthrown on March 24, 1976 in a military coup. A military junta ran Argentina for six subsequent years. In 1984 Pope St. John Paul II appointed Blessed Pironio Head of the Pontifical Council for the Laity.
 
From the inspiration of St. John Paul II, Blessed Pironio was given the assignment to organize World Youth Days. He did this with intelligence, vigor and holiness. The success of World Youth Days is a direct result of Blessed Pironio’s leadership. Blessed Pironio saw the need for the church to go directly to the young with the word of God and the teachings of the Church. For his efforts in this area, he is being recognized as a member of the Church’s Blessed. He was directly involved in the following World Youth Days: Rome (1985), Buenos Aires (1987), Santiago de Compostela (1989), Czestochowa (1991), Denver (1993) and Manila (1995).
 
Blessed Pironio died on February 5, 1998. He is interred in the Basilica of Our Lady of Lujan in Argentina. He gave fifty-six years of service to the church. One miracle has been identified directly to Blessed Pironio’s intercession.
 
REFERENCES: 
<li><a href="https://www.osvnews.com/2023/12/19/cardinal-pironio-a-man-of-mission-youth-and-a-miraculous-healing-is-beatified-in-lujan-argentina">Cardinal Eduardo Pironio,</a> OSV News 	 
<li><a href="https://en.gariwo.net/righteous/maria-del-carmen-coca-maggi-26467.html">Maria del Carmen Maggi,</a> Garden of the Righteous 	
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_Church_in_Argentina"> Church - State Relationships,</a> Wikipedia 
<li><a href="https://www.ewtnvatican.com/articles/blessed-cardinal-eduardo-francisco-pironio-a-testament-to-faith-and-justice-2080">Cardinal Pironio,</a> EWTN

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Beatification ofCardinal Eduardo Francisco Pironio

Beatification of
Cardinal Eduardo Francisco Pironio