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  <h1 class='Shead1'>Vatican Stamp Notes</h1>
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<center>
  <h2 class='Shead'>Sede Vacante<br>Stamps Released</h2><br>
      Lou Giorgetti<br><br></center>

On Monday, April 28, the Vatican Post Office released a set of four Sede Vacante stamps, valid for use during the current interregnum period following the death of Pope Francis.  The stamps were released relatively quickly, being issued only seven days following the passing of the pope.  Past Sede Vacante issues were released ten or more days following the death of a pope (the one exception being the Sede Vacante stamps following the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, which were released the day after his resignation took effect).
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The series consists of four stamps with the following face values: €1.25, €1.30, €2.45 and € 3.20.  The €1.25 stamp pays the internal rate for Italy; the €1.30 stamp for other European countries; the €2.45 stamp for Africa, Asia and the United States; and the €3.20 stamp for Australia/Oceania.  Here is an image of the €1.25 stamp:
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<center><img height='325' src='https://vaticanstamps.org/cms/images/Vatican/SedeVacanteMMXXV.jpg'></center>
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The stamps offer an unusual perspective on the traditional Sede Vacante image.  They depict an image in three dimensions of the Allegory of the Apostolic See, supported by angels.  The Crossed Keys of Saint Peter are protected by the “umbraculum”, or umbrella, with the words: “Sede Vacante MMXXV” and “Città del Vaticano” (as well as the stamp denomination).
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VPS members have reported seeing the stamps available for sale on internet sites, as well as first day covers.  One member has provided an image of a first day cover for the Sede Vacante issue:
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<center><img height='325' src='http://vaticanstamps.org/cms/images/Vatican/SedeVacanteMMXXVcover.jpg'></center>
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The announcement for the stamps, which can be viewed by clicking on the link in the references, also revealed that a special folder will be produced containing all four stamps, along with “official souvenir envelopes and the cancellation especially created for the Sede Vacante 2025”.  The folder will be available for purchase starting on Friday, May 2.
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<b>Stamp and first day cover images used with permission.</b>
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<b>REFERENCE:</b><br>
<li>VaticanState.va, April 28, 2025, <a href='https://www.vaticanstate.va/en/news/1805-vatican-issues-series-of-postage-stamps-for-the-sede-vacante-2025.html'>Vatican issues series of postage stamps for the Sede Vacante 2025</a>
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  <h2 class='Shead'>Feast Day Of Pope St. Pius V</h2><br>
      James C. Hamilton<br><br></center>

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<img height='300' src='http://vaticanstamps.org/VPS/images/296/1258.jpg'>
<img height='300' src='http://vaticanstamps.org/VPS/images/296/1259.jpg'><br>
<b>St. Pope Pius V: 5th Centenary of Birth <br>Detail From Alterpieces by Grazio Cossoli<br>Scott 1258-1259 (2004)</b></center>
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The Feast of Pope Saint Pius V is celebrated on April 30, one day before the anniversary of his death on May 1, 1572.
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Born in Bosco in 1504, Michael Ghislieri became a Dominican at age 14.  He studied at Bologna, and held positions in the Order as a lecturer in theology and philosophy, novice master, and prior. A reformer, he was chosen as Commissary General of the Inquisition.  When Cardinal Caraffa became Pope Paul IV (1555-1559), he appointed Ghlislieri a cardinal (1557) and inquisitor general (1558).  He was a reformer during the Reformation era and known for his personal holiness.  He was elected Pope in 1566 and took the name Pius V.
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Historian J. N. D. Kelly writes that Pius V:
<blockquote>
<i>"made it his avowed objective to put into effect, in every sphere, the decrees of the Council of Trent</i> (the concluding session of which ended in 1563) <i>and was a man who always thought and acted from a spiritual viewpoint, (and) made no change in his mortified style of life, continuing to war a monk’s rough undergarments beneath his papal robes.</i>”
</blockquote>
Pius V issued a series of decrees on blasphemy and public immorality in Rome, as well as against profanation of holy days.  He enforced rules on clerical residency and alienation of papal lands by noble families, and began a systematic review of religious orders, abolishing some which did not perform up to the mark.  He reviewed episcopal appointments and selected cardinals with care. He published a catechism in 1567, a revised breviary in 1568, a Roman missal in 1570, and set up a commission to revise the Vulgate Bible.  He visited Roman basilicas to ensure Trent’s reforms were being carried out and arranged for parish visitations. He relied upon the Inquisition to combat heresy and establish the Congregation of the Index in 1571 regarding prohibited books.  Many of these reforms were the product of the Council of Trent.
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His foreign policies attempted to reduce state influence/control of churches, leading to opposition from various Catholic monarchs such as in France and Spain. In 1570 he excommunicated Queen Elizabeth I of England, the last such excommunication of a reigning monarch, an act which made life difficult for Catholic adherents in England.  He supported efforts in France against the Huguenots, but was disillusioned when toleration was granted in the 1570s. He clashed with the Holy Roman Emperor who wanted a measure of toleration for German Protestants. His successful foreign policy came off the western coast of Greece at Lepanto (7 October 1571) with the defeat of a Muslim navy.  He established the Feast of Our Lady of Victory (later Our Lady of the Rosary) to be held on 7 October thereafter. 
<br><br>  
Historian Kelly concludes Pius V was:
<blockquote>
<i>"single-minded, devout to the point of intolerance, relentless in his persecution of heresy...(and left) a distinctive Tridentine impress on the Church."</i>
</blockquote>
Pius V was canonized in 1712 by Pope Clement XI.  
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<b>Reference:</b><br>
<li>J.N.D. Kelly, <b>Oxford Dictionary of Popes</b>
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