Pope Francis depicted a colonialist in WYD stamp

Controversy surrounding Vatican stamp for World Youth Day

The stamp has now been withdrawn

Pope Francis as a colonialist - this is how the stamp for World Youth Day, which is causing controversy, could be interpreted. For The Pope is depicted on a monument to Henry the Navigator.

The Vatican stamp for World Youth Day has caused controversy. The newspaper "Il Messaggero" reported on Wednesday about the "politically incorrect stamp". The motif, designed by artist Stefano Morri, shows Pope Francis on the Monument to the Discoveries in Lisbon. Portugal's capital will host World Youth Day in early August. Instead of the Portuguese conqueror and navigator Henry, the Catholic head of the church is standing by the river Tagus and pointing into the distance. Behind him are children and young people of different nationalities.

The Portuguese Curia Bishop Carlos Alberto de Pinho Moreira Azevedo, a member of the Pontifical Historical Committee, described the stamp as something "very distasteful", according to the newspaper. The stamp's description says: "Just as the monument shows Henry the Navigator leading the crew in the discovery of the New World, the stamp shows Pope Francis leading young people and the Church." Henry is considered the founder of the Portuguese colonial empire. The reappraisal of colonialism has been widely discussed by the Portuguese public for several years.

Declaration on the so-called Doctrine of Discovery

Only at the beginning of April, Vatican authorities had issued a statement on the so-called Doctrine of Discovery. Indigenous people had called for a renunciation of the letter during the Pope's visit to Canada in 2022. The statement said the doctrine was not part of the teaching of the Catholic Church. The corresponding papal letters from the 15th and 16th centuries had "never been considered an expression of the Catholic faith". The Catholic Church recognises that these so-called bulls of that time did not adequately reflect the rights and dignity of indigenous peoples.

The doctrine, which was never explicitly formulated as Church teaching but was widely accepted as valid, was based on the idea that the Americas had been discovered by Europeans in the 15th century. Therefore, the division of the "New World" among the colonial powers of England, France, Spain and Portugal was also considered legitimate and authenticated by papal letters. One consequence was a cultural oppression of the indigenous peoples that lasted well into the 20th century.

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