BOLIVIA, ÓSCAR ELIZALDE PRADA/CEB. On July 3rd, the “Francis first South American Pope” postal stamp was issued at the headquarters with Monsignor Giambattista Diquattro, Apostolic Nuncio of Bolivia, and of the President and Secretary General of the Bolivian Episcopal Conference (CEB), Monsignor Oscar Aparicio and Monsignor Eugenio Scarpellini present.
Luís Alberto Paz Soldán, the general manager of the Bolivian Post Office, and Doctor José Luis Zeballos, the vice-president of the Bolivian Philatelic Federation, were also present at the ceremony.
Monsignor Diquattro stressed “that it was a very beautiful moment in which those who were present could confirm the affection that the Bolivians have for the Holy Father, and at the same time, we know of the affection that the Pope has for Latin American, and in Bolivia, he is a Pope who fundamentally believes in the strengthening of a Missionary Church.” In effect, the encouragement of the missionary life of the Church is rooted in the Fifth General Conference of Latin American and Caribbean Bishops, in Aparecida, as the Apostolic Nuncio recalled: “the Pope has that in his heart; it is a Catholic Latin American characteristic of the Church.”
In total, 20,000 stamps were issued, which costs 5 Bs. Through the post offices, it is expected that the stamp will travel to more than 200 countries worldwide, through which the faithful Catholics, disciples and missionaries of Jesus Christ, will carry out the missionary command of the Gospel.
Original Spanish: Translation Celina M. Garza, San Antonio, TX USA
