The four stamps feature four photographic images depicting His Holiness Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, during his pontificate, in contexts related to the Order of Malta. In particular:

the € 1.20 stamp depicts Benedict XVI with Grand Master Fra’ Andrew Bertie on the occasion of the audience on 22 June 2006

the € 1.25 stamp depicts Benedict XVI on 9 February 2013 in the Vatican Basilica on the occasion of the solemn celebrations for the nine centuries since the promulgation of the Solemn Privilege with which in 1113 Pope Paschal II officially recognised the monastic community of the Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem. This document – known as the Pie Postulatio Voluntatis – laid the legal basis for sovereignty and independence and was a fundamental element in the development of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, today the Sovereign Military Order of Malta;

The € 2.40 stamp depicts Benedict XVI and, in the foreground, two German volunteers of the Order of Malta at the Holy Mass celebrated on 21 November 2011 at the Olympiastadion in Berlin;

the € 3.10 stamp depicts a moment of the Holy Mass presided over by Benedict XVI on the occasion of his pastoral visit to the Order of Malta’s Roman hospital “San Giovanni Battista” on 2 December 2007.

Each stamp bears the inscriptions “SOVRANO MILITARE ORDINE DI MALTA”, “POSTE MAGISTRALI” and “In Memoriam Benedetto XVI“, the coat of arms of the Order of Malta’s activities and the face value, respectively “€ 1.20”, “€ 1.25”, “€ 2.40” and “€ 3.10”.