An Italian Prisoner Designs a Series of Stamps for the Vatican

 Marcello D’Agata has spent nearly 25 years in a Milanese prison, the Opera, Italy’s largest prison, where the members of the Mafia most often serve their long terms.

“Ever since the prison authorities authorized a restricted group of people to participate in a drawing class, inspiration and hidden talents have resurfaced in me,” confided Marcello to L’Osservatore Romano on November 6, 2018.

“If only I had more inner strength and education, and people around me to help me understand that bad choices are worthless,” lamented the repentant prisoner, adding: “Since then, I have not stopped drawing, to give some color to my dreams and my future.” 

The initiative to have certain inmates of the Opera prison draw came from the Philatelia project: “The convicted are serving a just sentence for a mistake they committed. But we must not forget that for this penalty to be fruitful, it must have hope for its horizon,” explains an official statement from the Vatican’s Philatelic and Numismatic Office.

One of the stamps signed by Marcello D’Agata depicts the Blessed Virgin with the Child Jesus and was specially designed for Christmas.