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28.01.

The Pope whose name is on the facade of St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican

The Pope whose name is on the facade of St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican

On the upper part of the entrance façade on the huge building of the Basilica of St. Peter in the Vatican, the name of Pope Paul V., as well as the surname of his Borghese family, is written in Latin.



On this day in 1621, Pope Paul V., born of the name Camillo Borghese, died. He belonged to the noble family Borghese, and was born in Rome in 1552. He became a Pope in 1605, at the age of 53. He was a contemporary of Cardinals Richelieu, Galileo, Shakespeare, Cervantes and El Greco.

It is interesting that in Rome today one can see a huge inscription about Pope Paul V. right on the facade of the famous Basilica of St. Peter in the Vatican. Namely, the upper part of the entrance façade on this huge structure reads: IN HONOREM PRINCIPLE APOST PAVLVS V BVRGHESIVS ROMANVS PONT MAX AN MDCXII PONT VII of his pontificate).

Pope Paul V. is particularly interesting in that he received the envoy of Hasekur Tsusenagu, a Japanese envoy (1615), during his pontificate. He handed the pope a letter from Date Masamuna requesting Japan’s trade association with Spanish possessions in Latin America, as well as sending Christian missionaries to Japan.

Paul V. died in 1621 at the age of 68 in his hometown of Rome. Interestingly, it was he who founded the Bank of the Holy Spirit (Il. Banco di Santo Spirito), the bank of the Papal State, which then existed for centuries.




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