Vatican · XXVI World Youth Day in Madrid

Issue date18 Oct 2011

Total mintage115,000

EU maximum115,000

Editions3

Edge lettering2 ★ × 6, alternately upright/inverted

InscriptionR / 2011 / XXVI / G.M.G / CITTÀ DEL VATICANO

DesignerOrietta Rossi (Maria Carmela Colaneri)

mintInstituto Poligrafico e Zecca Dello Stato, Roma

Issue occasion

The coin commemorates the 26th World Youth Day. The design depicts young people and flags, as well as the inscriptions “XXVI” and “G.M.G” for “Giornata Mondiale della Gioventù”. It also includes the mint mark “R”, the year “2011” and the inscription “CITTÀ DEL VATICANO”.

The design

The inner part of the coin shows young people and flags in the centre, as well as the mintmark “R” and the year “2011”. The inner part of the coin is enclosed by an arc containing “XXVI” and “G.M.G” in its upper half (for Giornata Mondiale della Gioventù — World Youth Day), while the issuing state “CITTÀ DEL VATICANO” (Vatican City) is inscribed in its lower half.

The twelve stars of the European flag are depicted on the outer ring of the coin.

Background on the topic

World Youth Day (Weltjugendtag) is an event of the Roman Catholic Church that goes back to Pope John Paul II. Its origins were international youth meetings in Rome during the Holy Year of 1984 and the International Youth Year proclaimed by the United Nations in 1985. The first official World Youth Day was held in 1986. Since then, it has taken place annually at the diocesan level; at intervals of several years, an international meeting at changing locations is added.

The international edition in 2011 was held in Madrid from 16 to 21 August. The host was the Archdiocese of Madrid under Cardinal Antonio María Rouco Varela. Pope Benedict XVI took part in several events. These included an opening ceremony, a Way of the Cross in central Madrid, a prayer vigil and the closing Mass at Cuatro Vientos airfield. During the vigil, a severe storm arose, causing parts of the scheduled programme to be cancelled.

The motto came from the Letter of Paul to the Colossians and was: “Rooted and built up in Christ, firm in the faith”. The religious orientation of young Catholics was thus at the centre of the event. In addition to the papal services, the gathering included catecheses, prayers, opportunities for confession and cultural events. Young people from numerous countries travelled as pilgrim groups and were often accommodated in parishes, schools or collective accommodation facilities.

In Spain, the event was also accompanied by public debates. Against the backdrop of the economic and employment crisis at the time, criticism was directed, among other things, at public spending and the social role of the Church.

For Vatican City, the choice of this event as the subject of a coin was a natural one, because World Youth Day is an instrument of Catholic youth ministry initiated and accompanied by the Pope. The issue thus referred to an event directly connected with the worldwide ecclesiastical office of Benedict XVI, even though the venue was outside Vatican City.