Pope John XXIII
50th Anniversary of His Death

Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, popularly referred to as 'the Good Pope', died 3 June 1963, 50 years after a five-year long pontificate that left its mark on the Church with historic reforms. Although Pope John XXIII was not able to see much of the fruit of the changes he had proposed, they profoundly transformed the Catholic Church of the time. He was a Pope who fought for peace in the world, as his 1963 encyclical “Pacem in Terris” (Peace on Earth) demonstrated. He revolutionized the Church by convening the Second Vatican Council to modernize and develop the institution of the Church and reformed the Mass, which came to be celebrated ordinarily in the modern languages rather than in Latin. Pope John XXIII is depicted on a €0,85 stamp issued to commemorate the 50th anniversary of his death. A mini sheet of nine stamps was also issued. On the left side of the mini sheet is his coat of arms and an excerpt of his most famous address better known in Italian as "Il discorso della luna" (The Speach of the Moon), when he spoke to crowds gathered in a moonlit St. Peter's Square. A folder and a €3,90 stamp and coin card were also issued. Technical Details: Scott Catalogue - 1531 - 1531M Date Issued - 12 June 2013 Face Value - €0,85 Perforations - 13.7 x 13.8 Printing Process - Offset Printer - Printex (Malta) Max Printed - 900,000

(Source - Vatican Notes: Volume: 61 Issue: 357 Page: 4-6)