On the occasion of the opening of the Universal Jubilee of the Catholic Church 2025, set for 24 December next, with the Eucharistic Celebration presided over by the Holy Father, in St. Peter’s Square, followed by the rite of the Opening of the Holy Door, the Order of Malta, a lay religious Order, celebrates the beginning of this Jubilee year, in which the faithful can obtain a plenary indulgence by passing through the Holy Door and performing the established religious practices.

To honour the symbolic rite with which each Jubilee opens, the issue depicts Giorgio Vasari’s painting, Pope Clement VII opening the Holy Door at the Jubilee of 1525, which is located inside Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, in the very room named after the important Florentine Pontiff.

The stamp is completed by the legend with the details of the work above, inserted on the right hand side, the title of the issue ‘APERTURA DEL GIUBILEO 2025’, the inscriptions ‘SOVRANO MILITARE ORDINE DI MALTA’ and ‘POSTE MAGISTRALI’, the emblem of the Order’s activities and the face value ‘€ 4.10’.

Photo credits: Florentine Civic Museums Photo Library.