April 12, 2005
On the day of April 2, 2005, the Holy Father John Paul II died. The Papal See is vacant.
The Catholic Church has initiated a series of procedures aimed at guaranteeing the continuance of ordinary administration, on the one hand, and the calling if the Conclave on the other, in which the Cardinals will elect the new Supreme Pontiff.
In this time, ordinary government is ensured by the Apostolic Camera, chaired by the Cardinal Camerlingo of the Holy Roman Church and consisting of the Vice-Camerlingo and the Cleric Prelates of the Camera.
The issue of the Vacant Papal See stamps is intended to commemorate the event and ensure the continuity of the issue of postal stamps, to be used to send correspondence from the Vatican City during the period of the Vacant Papal See itself.
The image utilized is that of the heraldic arms of the Apostolic Camera (two keys in saltire surmounted by a canopy) and is drawn from a fresco by Carlo Malli located inside the Vatican's Apostolic Palace, dating back to the Papacy of Benedict XIV (1740 - 1758).