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  <img src="http://vaticanstamps.org/VPS/images/letterlogo.jpg" alt="Logo" height="150">    
  <h1 class='Shead1'>Vatican Stamp Notes</h1>
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  <h2 class='Shead'>Feast Day Of St. Catherine Of Siena</h2><br>
      James C. Hamilton<br><br></center>

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<img height='300' src='http://vaticanstamps.org/VPS/images/296/335.jpg'>
<img height='300' src='http://vaticanstamps.org/VPS/images/296/336.jpg'>
<img height='300' src='http://vaticanstamps.org/VPS/images/296/337.jpg'><br>
<b>Saint Catherine of Siena: 5th Centenary of Canonization<br>Scott 335-337 (1962)</b></center>
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April 29 is the Feast of Saint Catherine of Siena.
<br><br>
Catherine of Siena (? 1347-1380) was a mystic and a member of the Dominican Third Order. She was canonized in 1462 by Pope Pius II (a fellow native of Tuscany). She was named a Doctor of the Church in 1970 by Pope Paul VI (just days after Saint Teresa of Ávila had been named the first female Doctor of the Church), and, in 1999, was named a co-patron of Europe by Pope John Paul II.
<BR><BR>
She was one of twenty or more children born to a Sienese dyer.  From a young age, she was devoted to a life of prayer and penance. She refused to consider marriage (against the wishes of her parents) and became a Dominican tertiary and lived in solitude for some time. She then began nursing the hospitalized sick and gathered a group of followers, both women and men, and associated with Dominicans.  Historian David Farmer writes that Catherine and her associates called for:
<blockquote><i>“reform and repentance through a renewal of total love of God.  …Her personal holiness, enhanced rather than diminished by frequent and strong criticism, was centered on Christ crucified, seen as the supreme sigh of God’s love for man.”</i></blockquote>
Around the year 1375, she received the stigmata, as illustrated on the stamps shown above.
<BR><BR>
She served as a representative of the city of Florence to a dispute between it and the papacy (then residing in Avignon). She was unsuccessful in resolving the dispute but while at Avignon, she urged Pope Gregory XI to return to Rome. She also wrote letters regarding the need for his presence in Rome, one of which stated:
<blockquote><i>“Up Father, like a man! For I tell you that you have no need to fear [to return to Rome].”</i></blockquote>
Gregory XI returned to Rome in 1377, ending the Avignon Papacy.  A fresco by Giorgio Vasari depicts Catherine leading Gregory with her finger crooked, symbolizing the papal party to follow her into Old St. Peter’s Basilica.  This mostly imaginary scene was reproduced on the Vatican City stamps shown below.  Her finger is preserved in a reliquary at the Church of St. Dominic in Siena and is traditionally displayed on her feast day. The fresco is located at the Vatican’s Sala Regia, the entrance hall to the Sistine Chapel.
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<img height='400' src='http://vaticanstamps.org/VPS/images/296/614a.jpg'><br>
<b>Pope Gregory XI: Return from Avignon to Rome, 600th Anniversary<br>Scott 614a (1977)</b></center>
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<b>REFERENCES:</b><br>
<li>James C Hamilton, <i>Vatican Notes</i>, Volume 67, Number 379, pp. 34-43, 2003, <a href='http://vaticanstamps.org/vaticannotes/idisplay.php?p=67-379-34-35&r=0'>A Visit to Avignon's 14th Century Papal Palace</a><br>
<li>David Farmer, <b>Oxford Dictionary of Saints</b>
<li>Vatican Philatelic Society website, www.vaticanstamps.org, Stamp Database Searchj
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  <h2 class='Shead'>Papal Conclave<br>to Begin May 7</h2><br>
      Lou Giorgetti<br><br></center>

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<img height='300' src='http://vaticanstamps.org/VPS/images/296/1719.jpg'><br>
<b>Conclusion Of The Restoration Work<br>
On The Sistine Chapel (25th Anniversary)<br>	    		
Scott 1719 (2019)</b></center>
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On Monday, April 28, the College of Cardinals announced that the conclave to elect the successor to Pope Francis will convene on Wednesday, May 7.  The date is within the traditional 15-20 day window following a pope’s death and falls after the conclusion of the nine-day “novendiales” mourning period.
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As of Monday, most of the 134 cardinals who will take part in the Conclave (voting members include those cardinals under 80 years of age) have already arrived in Rome, with the remaining due to arrive prior to the May 7 start date.
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The convening of the Conclave falls after the conclusion of events following the death of Pope Francis (including his funeral and burial on Saturday, April 26), and after a series of General Congregation meetings to plan for the Conclave.  The cardinals will celebrate a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on the morning of May 7, and then will proceed to the Sistine Chapel.  Upon entry, each cardinal will take an oath to observe the prescribed procedures of the Conclave.  The doors to the Sistine Chapel will then be closed to the outside world until a new pope is chosen.
<br><br>
The Sistine Chapel was first used as the site of the Conclave in 1492, and has been used for that purpose continuously since 1878.  Here is a drawing of the conclave from 1903, following the death of Pope Leo XIII, which elected Pope Pius X:
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<img height='300' src='https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b0/Conclave_1903_scrutin.jpg'><br>
<b>Voting During the 1903 Conclave<br>
Author Unknown<br>
From Wikimedia Commons<br>
In the Public Domain</b></center>
<br><br>
Starting next Wednesday, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals, will preside over the Conclave.  Ninety votes (a two-thirds majority plus one) is required to elect the new pope.  It is worth noting that a large majority of the cardinal electors were appointed by Pope Francis:  108, or almost 81%.  His active reshaping of the College and the transformation of its geographic makeup (to include representatives from countries and regions previously underrepresented at the Conclave) may impact the results of the upcoming election as the Church prepares to elect its 267th pope.
<br><br>
<b>REFERENCES:</b><br>
<li>A.C. Wimmer, Catholic News Agency (CNA), April 28, 2025, <a href='https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/263709/conclave-date-set-for-may-7'>May 7 papal conclave date finalized as cardinals prepare for election</a><br>
<li>Vatican Philatelic Society website, www.vaticanstamps.org, Stamp Database Search
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