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May 20

The Vatican Philatelic Society & Stamps in the Papal Artifacts’ Collection

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A Vatican Stamp Collection from the Past 150 Years

Recently, a  stamp collector, Christopher Brunner, generously donated his very large collection of Vatican stamps to Father Kunst’s Papal Artifacts’ Collection.  An inestimable amount of work went into his collection.

Included are highly documented and cataloged stamps from the last 150 years.  Below are pictured just a few of this incredible gift.

We will be showing them from all time periods throughout the year.

Thank you to Christopher Brunner for this memorabilia of such historic significance, adding to the living history and lore of all things papal.  —Father Richard Kunst

 Collector says Vatican Stamps, Letters Reveal Fascinating Church History

By Dennis Sadowski, Catholic News Service

The 25-word message from an Italian prisoner of war to his wife at home in Italy is basic and mundane, almost simplistic. It had to be to get through the censors scanning World War II-era mail. ‘Dearest wife,’ the handwritten correspondence opens, ‘with this message I inform you of my good health as I hope that you, the children, my brother Salvatore are as well.’

The December 1942 note from Santo Fassano, who was being held in an internee camp in Missoula, Montana, to his wife, Carmela, took nine months to arrive in the small town of Faro Superiore on the northeast tip of Sicily. Had it not been for the Holy See Secretary of State’s Information Office, there may not have been any correspondence between Fassano and his family at all.
The December 1942 note from Santo Fassano, who was being held in an internee camp in Missoula, Montana, to his wife, Carmela, took nine months to arrive in the small town of Faro Superiore on the northeast tip of Sicily. Had it not been for the Holy See Secretary of State’s Information Office, there may not have been any correspondence between Fassano and his family at all.
 
When Greg Pirozzi of Hanover, Maryland, acquired the brief correspondence written on a Vatican form 25 years ago, it set him on a philatelic journey that continues to this day. Pirozzi, president of the Vatican Philatelic Society, has since studied the behind-the-scenes work carried out in part through the mails by Vatican diplomats to help families track down the whereabouts of their military sons during years of war and world upheaval.

It’s the simple stories of everyday life, deep worries and joyful moments such correspondence reveals that Pirozzi says makes his ongoing studies satisfying. ‘You’re holding in your hand a personal piece of information,’ said Pirozzi, 53, who leads the worldwide group of about 300 who collect and study the postage stamps and postal history of the Vatican City State and its predecessor, the Papal States. Pirozzi especially prizes the Fassano document because it reveals a little about the story of one family. He has collected others as well.
‘
It is a communication from a loved one, individuals who haven’t seen each other or heard from each other for months and months, oftentimes expressing joy in messages of 25 words or less,’ Pirozzi said. ‘You can imagine what that must be like for either a mother or a son receiving a communication after months of hearing nothing and finally experiencing the joy of having a message of wellness. It’s not only the historical aspect (that is interesting), but it’s the personal aspect that draws you into the stories.’

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