COMMEMORATION OF THE LIFE OF JOHN PAUL II Issued 9th February, 2006

(Extracted from Philatelic Bureau Bulletin No 2 of 2006)2

This issue is Zimpost's way of celebrating the life and twenty-six year term at the chair of St. Peter of an extraordinary man.

Karol Josef Wojtyla, who was later to be known to the world as Pope John Paul II, was born on May 18 1920 in Wadowice, an industrial town near Cracow in Poland. His mother a school teacher, died just before his ninth birthday. His older brother, Edmund, died in 1932. His father, who had been an Administrative Officer in the Austrian army and a lieutenant in the Polish army died in 1941. As a schoolboy, he was an excellent student and talented athlete who enjoyed skiing, swimming, canoeing and mountain climbing. He also played as a goalkeeper for a local football team. In 1938, Karol enrolled in the Faculty of Philosophy of Jagiellonian University of Cracow. In October 1942 he began his studies for the priesthood in the underground seminary run by Cardinal Adam Sapieha of Cracow. He was ordained on the 1st of November 1946 at the age of twenty-six. Soon after, he left Poland to study at the Angelicum University in . After a spell in parish work and as a student chaplain, and having gained two doctorates in 1954, he became a philosophy lecturer at the Catholic University of Lublin and two years later was appointed to its chair of ethics. In 1958, he was consecrated Auxiliary Bishop to Archbishop Eugeniusz Baziak, Apostolic Administrator of Cracow. Following the unexpected death of Pope John Paul, I on 28 September 1978, after serving for only 33 days as Pope, Cardinal Wojtyla emerged from the on the 16th of October 1978 as Pope John Paul II, and Bishop of Rome, becoming the youngest pope of the 20th century and the first ever Slav. He was ordained on the 22nd of October 1978.

~ 1 ~

A Pole and the first non-Italian to hold the office since the Englishman Adrian VI (1522-1523), Pope John Paul II was a dynamic, charismatic and radical figure on the global stage. He affirmed the world's 1.7 billion Catholics in their faith and reminded them of the redeeming love and forgiveness of Christ. He saw the world as his parish and himself as a pilgrim. The 264th successor to St. Peter, his pontificate was the second longest in history. His presence and influence was felt throughout the world. He sought reconciliation with other Christian communities and tried to build bridges with other religions. Reconciliation between the Church and Judaism was a key part of his papacy. He became the first Pope to enter both a synagogue, in Rome, and mosque, in Damascus. Pope John Paul II had a radical social agenda. He challenged world leaders to strive for peace, justice, a fairer distribution of the world's resources and an end to poverty. He endorsed the call for the cancellation of the Third World debt. He had audiences and meetings with nearly 1,000 heads of state and prime ministers, including Ronald Regan, Mikhail Gorbachev, Bill Clinton, Nelson Mandela, George W. Bush, Tony Blair, Yitzhak Rabin, Fidel Castro, Yasser Arafat, Vladimir Putin and Robert Mugabe. He defended traditional Catholic teaching on the sanctity of life. "Every life is a gift from God", he said. Opposed to issues such as embryo experimentation, abortion, artificial contraception, cloning and euthanasia, he frequently spoke out against "the culture of death". A desire to follow in the footsteps of St. Paul and take the message of Christ to the ends of the earth made him the most travelled pope in history. He took the good news of the gospel to 133 countries, including Zimbabwe in September 1988, where he held two masses in Harare and Bulawayo, the largest cities of the country. The images of him kissing the ground upon his arrival at an airport and blessing huge roadside crowds from his "" became his trademarks. The Pope always had a great devotion to the Virgin Mary. He attributed his survival after the 1981 assassination attempt to her intervention. His coat of arms had the letter 'M' on it, while his motto was Torus Tuus (All Yours). He inaugurated a Marian Year in 1987 and added five new mysteries to the Rosary. He designated 2002 The Year of the Rosary. He made 2005 The Year of the Eucharist. A gifted communicatory and linguist, he skilfully used TV, published a number of books, recorded two CDs of prayers, oversaw the setting up of the Vatican website and sent an apostolic letter to bishops by e-mail. However, in May 1981, an attempt was made on his life at St. Peter's Square, but he was later to forgive and visit his would-be assassin Mehmet Ali Agca in prison in in 1983. The bullet that narrowly missed his heart was later enshrined on the crown of the statue of Our Lady at Fatima in Portugal. A dark shadow over his Papacy was the scandal of the clerical sexual abuse which rocked the Church in a number of countries, most notably the USA, where bishops resigned and dioceses forced to pay out millions of dollars in compensation. Pope John Paul II refuted the argument that celibacy lies at the root of sexual abuse, stating that infidelity is the major cause. After 26 Papal years, Pope John Paul II succumbed to Parkinson's disease diagnosed in 2001 and died on April 2 2005. The Pope had had ill health that spanned over 12 years. He had a tumour removed from his colon in 1992, dislocated his shoulder in 1993, broke his femur in 1994 and had his appendix removed in 1996. His last public appearance was at the Vatican balcony, where he gave his usual blessings to the world during the 2005 Easter Sunday celebrations.

~ 2 ~

Pope John Paul II said that he offered his sufferings so that "God's plan will be realised and his work spread among peoples". Pope John Paul II will be remembered in different ways. To some he will be an authoritarian who was out of touch with the modem world, who stifled intellectual debate within the Church, downplayed the rights of women, encouraged clericalism, and failed the poor by opposition to liberation theology and condoms. But to others, he will be an authoritative, prophetic and radical voice who insisted on the universal truths of God and refused to dilute their unchanging message of Christ to suit secular thinking. Above all, he will be remembered as a messenger of the Risen Christ, of hope in the future and as a man of deep faith and holiness.

$25,000: This stamp shows the Pope in the early years of his pontificate. He is wearing the traditional white cassock, the pectoral cross and the ring of the fisherman. He is also called the Pontiff - a word meaning bridge builder.

$250,000: Here we have a view of the Pope wearing his (The headgear is symbolic of authority in the Old Testament) and carrying his crozier (from the Latin for 'a cross' is representative of the Shepherds' Staff).

(reduced to 75% of origianl size)

~ 3 ~

Catalogue listings

SG ZSC1 Value Description

1185 607 $25,000 Pope John Paul II 1186 608 $35,000 Pope with crozier and mitre

MS1187 MS13 Se-tenant block of two values a. Imperforate – horizontal sides Technical details

Stamp size: Sheet stamps: 30 x 35 mm

Sheet Size: 50 stamps (10 rows of 5 stamps), two panes per printed sheet

Artist: Gideon “Saint” Mahaka

Paper: ZSC paper type J: paper described by Zimpost as “Chancellor Litho PVA Gummed Postage Stamp Paper”. This paper is produced by Tullis Russell Coaters of Glenrothes, Fife, Scotland. Under UV there is no fluorescence either front or back, the stamp appears to be very dark

Print colours: Cyan, magenta, yellow & black

Perforations: SG 14 x 14½, ZSC 14 x 14¼ Left margin: Perforated through Other margins: Imperforate

Printer: NatPrint, Harare, Zimbabwe

Printer’s Imprint: Bottom Margin, below Row 5 Columns 5 & 6. Imprint printed in black

Cylinder numbers: Bottom margin below R5/1. Colours from left – cyan, magenta, yellow, black

Colour register: Type TL 4– round boxed – left margin opposite R5/1. Colours reading down – cyan, magenta, yellow, black

Sheet Value: Bottom margin, below R5/10, printed in black

Sheet Number: Type SN 7 with printed ‘ZIMPOST’ prefix, right margin opposite R5/10, reading down

Print numbers: $25,000 360,000 $250,000. 50,000 Miniature sheet 3,000

Issue date: 9th February, 2006

~ 4 ~

Postal Rates

The postage rates used were current for basic local rates and European air mail.

Listed varieties

Miniature sheet:

Imperforate to Horizontal sides ZSC MS13a

Unlisted varieties

$25,000: scatches across two stamps. Row 5 columns 9& 10 (Courtesy Narendhra Morar)

$250,000: Shift of both cyan and yellow $250,000: Shift of cyan plate to left, also plates to right, giving image a blurred effect. giving image a blurred effect

~ 5 ~

Miniature sheet: All perforations shift down Miniature sheet: Perforations shifted and to left upwards, with additional perfs to left margin

Miniature sheet: The sheetlet has almost Miniature sheet: Only two vertical lines of been miscut with “Zimbabwe Posts” almost perforations around £250,000 value. cut off.

Miniature sheet: Additional perforations Miniature sheet: Black offset to reverse of through left margin $25,000 stamp (Source eBay)

~ 6 ~

Miniature sheet: mis-cut sheet upwards and Miniature sheet: Only with vertical to right, with additional vertical perforations perforations, slightly higher than they should to the left. be. Sheet mis-cut through top line of text (Courtesy of Jefferson Ritson)

First Day Cover

The cover numbering comes from the catalogue produced by Geoff Brakspear.

A pictorial first day of issue canceller was produced for this issued and was used by the Philatelic Bureau. Other first day cover cancellers continued to be used at main post offices.

ZW119.1 (Zimpost)

Cover with set of stamps, placed on cover using Autophix machine and Printed pictorial cancellation 220 x 110 mm

~ 7 ~

ZW119.1 (MS) (Zimpost)

Miniature sheet with hand struck First Day of Issue, Harare, cancellation for 09.02.06

Related material.

Proof of the $25,000 stamp (Source eBay January 2021)

Part proof sheet with printed area outside of usual sheet. Possibly printer’s waste, judging from the folds. (Courtesy of Jefferson Ritson)

~ 8 ~

Delivery Labels from packaging containing sheets of 100 stamps. Both values are represented below, with the Cylinder 1A sheets having blue labels and 1B brown labels. All labels are for sheet numbers 0001 to 0100.

(Source EBay)

Covers produced for the Pope’s visit to Zimbabwe in 1988

Covers and card produced in Harare

Special postmark used in Harare on 10 SEP 1988

~ 9 ~

Cover produced in Bulawayo

Special postmark used in Bulawayo on 10 SEP 1988

Postcards produced by Gweru Diocese

Used at Harare Airport on 10-09-88 on day of Pope’s Arrival in Harare

(Source eBay)

Italian produced covers

Many covers were produced by Italian organisations, some with a special Vatican cancellation for the Pope’s Trip to Southern Africa (Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland & Mozambique)

Covers with “Africa 88” in bottom right corner

With special Harare Pope cancellation Cancelled Bulawayo 12 SEP 1988 10 SEP 1988

~ 10 ~

Covers produced by FDC Roma

With special Harare Pope cancellation Cancelled Bulawayo 12 SEP 1988 12 SEP 1988

With special Vatican cancellation Backstamped with special Harare Pope cancellation dated 12 SEP 1988

Covers in Golden series

With special Vatican cancellation With special Harare Pope cancellation 12 SEP Backstamped with special Harare Pope 1988 cancellation dated 12 SEP 1988

With special Bulawayo Pope cancellation 12 SEP 1988

~ 11 ~

Covers with Filagramo logo

With special Harare Pope cancellation With special Bulawayo Pope cancellation 12 SEP 1988 12 SEP 1988

Cover addressed to Geoprogram

With special Vatican cancellation Backstamped with special Harare Pope cancellation dated 12 SEP 1988

Cover produced by F.D.C. Capitolium

With special Harare Pope cancellation With special Vatican cancellation backstamped 10 SEP 1988 with special Harare Pope cancellation dated 12 SEP 1988

With special Bulawayo Pope cancellation 12 SEP 1988

~ 12 ~

Cover produced by Historic Philatelic Documents of

With Special Vatican cancellation Backstamped with special Harare Pope cancellation dated 12 SEP 1988

Areogramme produced by Circolo Aerofilatelico

With Special Vatican Cancellation backstamped with special Harare Pope cancellation dated 12 SEP 1968

Alitalia

With Special Vatican Cancellation backstamped with special Harare Pope cancellation dated 12 SEP 1968 (Courtesy Narendhra Morar)

Vatican City stamp part of a 1988 Cover produced in Spain commemorating the world set on the Pope’s global travels. travels of Pope John Paul II. (Source eBay) Here meeting R G Mugabe in 1988 (Source eBay)

Bibliography:

1. “The Zimbabwean Concise Postage Stamp Catalogue”, published by Harare Stamp Company, edited by Ken Allanson, Mike Amos and Geoff Brakspear. The catalogue continues to be updated and expanded by Geoff Brakspear 2. Zimbabwe Post, Philatelic Bureau Bulletin No 2 of 2006

~ 13 ~