VATICAN: Vatican issues special stamp to mark the "Sede Vacante"

Record ID: 625853

  • Title: VATICAN: Vatican issues special stamp to mark the "Sede Vacante"
  • Date: 1st March 2013
  • Summary: PRECIOSI SHOWING FOLDER
  • Embargoed: 16th March 2013 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Italy
  • Country: Italy
  • Topics: Religion,Religion
  • Reuters ID: LVAEHRRO6HVE2DTEY9HN1FPDB71K
  • Story Text: The Vatican post office on Friday (March 1) issued a special edition stamp to mark the period when there is no pope in office, known as the "Sede Vacante", the day after Benedict resigned as pontiff.
    The stamps, and a special folder with the seal from March 1, will be available until a new pope is chosen in the conclave.
    "This is a product that will be much in demand because the collectors will now be looking for the stamps and the envelopes," Artur Preciosi, who owns a collectors store in Rome told Reuters TV.
    "Yes, they sold lots of the them in the Vatican, I know that there were long queues of tourists, collectors, all kinds of people, since this morning. In this case it's not just the collectors who are after them," he added.
    Pope Benedict XVI officially retired at 8pm local time (1900GMT) on Thursday (February 28), leaving the seat of the pope free for a successor.
    On Friday Catholic cardinals from around the world began the complex, cryptic and uncertain process of picking the next leader of the world's largest church.
    Some details are still unclear, owing to Benedict's break with the tradition that papacies end with a pope's death, so these "princes of the Church" will first hold an informal session before traditional rounds of talks begin on Monday (March 4).
    No front-runner stands out among the 115 cardinal electors due to enter the Sistine Chapel for the conclave that picks the new pope, so discreetly sizing up potential candidates will be high on the cardinals' agenda.
    They will also use the general congregations, the closed-door consultations preceding a conclave, to discuss future challenges such as better Vatican management, the need for improved communication and the continuing sexual abuse crisis.
    Pope Emeritus Benedict ended his difficult eight-year reign on Thursday pledging unconditional obedience to whoever succeeds him to lead the world's 1.2 billion Catholics at one of the most problematic periods in the Church's 2,000-year history.
    Conclaves traditionally begin 15 days after the seat of St. Peter, as the papal office is called, becomes vacant. But that includes time for mourning and funeral ceremonies for a dead pope, so Benedict issued a decree allowing an earlier start.
    From Monday, the cardinals will discuss how long they want to hold general congregations before going into the conclave; its name comes from the Latin term "cum clave" - with a key - to show they are locked away until a pope is chosen.
    Cardinals over 80 cannot join them in the voting, but they are allowed to attend the general congregations and discuss the challenges to the Church with the electors.
    Nothing is set yet, but the Vatican seems to be aiming for an election by mid-March so the new pope can be installed in office before Palm Sunday on March 24 and lead Holy Week services culminating in Easter the following Sunday.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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