ROME: A special bronze medal has been minted by the Vatican to celebrate the visit of Pope Francis to Iraq.
Vatican sources told Arab News that the medal will be one of the gifts that the leader of the Catholic Church will give to Iraqi representatives whom he will meet during his four-day visit, which starts on Friday.
The medal has been designed by artists from the Ufficio Filatelico e Numismatico, the dedicated branch of the Vatican State Post Office for stamps and coins.
It features the map of Iraq, the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, a palm tree and Abraham leaving Ur, the Sumerian city-state in ancient Mesopotamia where the prophet is believed to have been born.
In the lower part of the medal, there is the inscription of the apostolic visit’s dates (March 5-8) in Latin, the official language of the Vatican. In its upper part the medal reads “Visit Iraquiam,” Latin for “Visit to Iraq.”
The Ufficio Filatelico e Numismatico mints a special medal for every papal trip. This one will be the 33rd since Pope Francis was elected. It will not be for sale. It is not known yet whether the Vatican State Post Office will issue a special stamp for the occasion.
