The coin has a common side with the European design used on euro coins in circulation. The national side shows the pilgrim cross and a set of figures representing the ethnic diversity of the young participants.
Did the Catholic Church buy 500,000 World Youth Day (WYD) commemorative coins? “The question is pertinent, but it starts from a wrong assumption. The Church – or the WYD Foundation, in this specific case – did not buy any batch of €2 coins that, at the initiative of INCM, were issued to mark WYD Lisbon 2023,” explains Rosa Pedroso Lima, spokesperson for the WYD Foundation, to Nascer do SOL.
The spokeswoman says that what we can refer to when we address this issue is the “revenue from the so-called ‘coinage’ that was delivered to WYD under the general law and, specifically, under the provisions of article 4 of Ordinance No. 151/2023, of June 6”. In other words, “translating this data into concrete: the INCM initiative resulted in the delivery to the WYD Foundation of 500 thousand € 2 coins, which we distributed throughout the Mainland and Islands, through the 21 dioceses so that this currency was quickly put into circulation throughout the territory”.
It adds that “the corresponding revenue was, as already announced at the launch ceremony of the €2 coin, used to fully finance the coming of 100 young pilgrims from the PALOPs (an average of 15 per country) who would otherwise not be able to attend this great meeting of the Pope with young people from all over the world”.
It is recalled that, as Nascer do SOL had already reported, a WYD commemorative coin entered circulation on July 19 and quickly sold out. However, it is already on sale on platforms such as OLX – individually – and in rolls – and the ads are multiplying.
The coin has a common side with the European design used on euro coins in circulation. The national side shows the pilgrim cross and a set of figures representing the ethnic diversity of the young participants.
Two hands surround this set, symbolizing the Pope’s welcome and the feeling of inclusion and universality of this meeting. The legend ‘World Youth Day Lisbon 2023’, ‘Portugal’ and ‘Casa da Moeda’, as well as the indication of the author – the sculptor João Duarte – are also present on the national side of the coin.
