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For those not lucky enough to be able to meet a Pope, here's
a little tidbit many Catholics might won't know about: it is possible
for Catholics to receive beautiful certificates of a papal blessing
("Benediction Papalis") for themselves or their families, for other
Catholics, or for certain special occasions, like weddings or
anniveraries. The matter of it is a lovely parchment, handpainted with
calligraphy, design, the papal seal and signature; the blessing itself
is invisible to the eye, of course, but the certificate is a beautiful
keepsake and reminder of it. There are a few restrictions as to who can
and can't get one and the sort of occassions one will be issued:
People for whom a blessing will or will not be issued
Any baptized
Catholic can receive a blessing, but they are denied to non-Catholics,
to the dead, to inanimate objects, and to animals.
Occasions for which a Blessing will or will not be issued
Papal blessings will
not be issued to those wanting them on the occasions of birth
(because until we are baptized, we are not Catholic), death, or the
anniversaries of death. They probably will not be issued for events
already passed, i.e., they will be issued for Catholic wedding anniversaries,
but not for past weddings themselves.
They will be issued for such things as birthdays, ordinations,
religious profession, anniversaries of religious profession, Baptisms,
First Communions, Confirmations, conversions, and, as said, Catholic
weddings and anniversaries of Catholic weddings, etc.
How to get one
It used to be
that one would visit one's diocese's Chancery Office and fill out
paperwork, answering questions pertaining to the sort
of blessing you wanted, what language you wanted the certificate to be
written in, what style of certificate you wanted, etc. Now, since
March, 2019, it's done by making a request directly to the Office
of Papal Charities either in person --
Office of Papal
Charities
Cortile Sant’Egidio
00120 Vatican City
-- or online from the following website:
The cost is around 20 Euros, the proceeds from which go to
feed the poor. To
be safe, allow 6 months to receive your certificate if you're wanting
it by a certain date.
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