Sierra Leone 2005 - Honouring Pope Benedict XVI - Uncirculated Cupro Nickel Coin

Thousands of people hurried to the Vatican on the 19th April 2005 as soon as word spread through Rome and the rest of the World that white smoke had been seen from the Vatican signalling that the Cardinals had reached their decision as to which one of them was to become head of the Catholic Church. 

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Bavaria, stepped out onto the Vatican balcony to address the pilgrims beneath as Pope Benedict XVI.  The 265th pontiff, the first German pontiff in 1,000 years, described himself to the crowds that were amassed in the square as ‘a simple, humble worker in the Lord’s vineyard’.

The Bank of Sierra Leone is delighted to honour the new Pope with this exceptional coin.  The Catholic Church in Sierra Leone has approximately 150,000 members and has played a great part in the charitable work that has been desperately needed since peace spread through the county, a peace that Pope John Paul II helped to bring about by personally appealing to the rebels to cease their activities.