Two special stamps were issued today to mark important Irish Franciscan anniversaries.
The 75c stamps celebrate the 400th anniversary of the foundation of the Irish Franciscan College, Louvain and the 350th anniversary of the death of Father Luke Wadding.
The stamp, based on an original illustration by Thomas Ryan, marks the foundation of St Anthony's College in Louvain, Belgium in what was then the Spanish Netherlands in 1607.
The college, founded under the patronage of the King of Spain and the Papacy, became the focus of a cultural and political project which influenced Ireland's relations with Europe. It is now run by the Irish Institute for European Affairs.
The second stamp was based on Ryan's specially commissioned drawing of the statesman of the Catholic Church. Luke Wadding was born in Waterford in 1588 and studied in Portugal before entering the Franciscan Order.
He was ordained in Portugal in 1613. He became President of the Irish College, Salamanca in 1617, and the following year he went to Rome as theologian to the Spanish mission, where he remained for the rest of his life.
Under Father Wadding's influence, Irish Franciscan Colleges were established in Prague in 1629, Vielun, Poland in 1645, Paris in 1653 and Capranica, Italy in 1656.
He published 31 books as well as eight volumes of the history of the Franciscan Order which won him an international reputation.
Wadding wished to remain a priest despite petitions to the Pope to make him a Cardinal. He died in Rome in 1657.
PA