Vatican City issues replacement stamp for World Youth Day

By Denise McCarty

The Vatican City issued a new World Youth Day stamp July 6 to replace a previous commemorative for the event released May 16 and withdrawn from sale two days later.

World Youth Day 2023 is taking place Aug. 1-6 in Lisbon, Portugal.

As reported in the June 12 issue of Linn’s, the original stamp was recalled because of complaints about the statue in Lisbon that inspired the design.

That statue, Monument to Discoveries, was erected in 1960 to mark the 500th death anniversary of Prince Henry the Navigator. Criticism of the stamp centered around the statue’s connections to Portugal’s colonial past.

The new €3.10 features the World Youth Day logo designed by 24-year-old Beatriz Roque Antunes. Her inspiration for the logo was the World Youth Day theme, “Mary arose and went with haste” from Luke 1:39.

The logo, which is in the green, red and yellow colors of Portugal’s flag, shows a cross, Mary, rosary beads and a representation of the Holy Spirit.

Like the first commemorative for the 2023 World Youth Day, the second stamp was printed by Belgium’s bPost in a quantity of 45,000.

The new stamp can be ordered from the online shop of the Philatelic and Numismatic Office of the Vatican City, or by email.

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