To mark the hundredth anniversary since the Concordat between the Republic of Latvia and the Holy See was concluded and entered into force, Latvijas Pasts simultaneously with the Vatican postal establishment is issuing a stamp and a cover dedicated to this event.
The new stamp Concordat between the Republic of Latvia and the Holy See – 100 has a print run of 50,000 copies and a face value of € 2.46, corresponding to the postage of letter-post items in the weight class from 21 to 100 grams to the countries located in Group 5. The release of the stamp is accompanied by the issue of a special cover with a print run of 800 copies. The new philatelic releases have been designed by the artist Ģirts Grīva.
In the visual design of stamp and the cover, the artist has used the centennial logo of the Republic of Latvia and the Holy See, as well as the motifs of the flags of both countries.
This year marks the hundredth anniversary of the conclusion and entry into force of the Concordat between the Republic of Latvia and the Holy See, which is an agreement between the Pope of Rome and a state regarding the status of the Catholic Church in the territory of the contracting state. The Concordat between the Republic of Latvia and the Holy See was concluded in the Vatican on the 30th of May 1922: it was signed by Zigfrīds Anna Meierovics, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Latvia, and Pietro Gasparri, Cardinal Secretary of State. On the 19th July 1922, the Constitutional Assembly of the Republic of Latvia ratified the Concordat, and it entered into force upon the exchange of ratification documents in Rome on the 3rd of November 1922.
The Concordat with the Vatican was one of the first international agreements concluded by independent Latvia, and it became one of the cornerstones of Latvian diplomacy. The Concordat with Latvia was developed during the Pontificate of Benedict XV and became the first international agreement ratified by Pius XI, which was a model for other concordats not only in Europe, but also on other continents.
