Gibraltar-Vatican Joint Issue
The Vatican City State issued its first stamps in 1929, the same year that it was established under the Lateran Treaties. It released its first joint issue in 1969. Joint issues of stamps by the Vatican and other countries were uncommon for most of the twentieth century. In 2000, the Vatican and Poland released a joint issue designed by Czeslaw Slania which commemorated the eightieth birthday of John Paul II. However, the early twenty-first century saw a substantial increase in joint issues. In 2003, a set released by the Vatican and Poland celebrated the twenty-fifth anniversary of John Paul II's pontificate. The following year, a joint issue of the same countries commemorated the pope's return visits to Poland. In 2005, five of the eleven stamp sets released by the Vatican were joint issues. There have also been joint issues with Germany since Benedict XVI became Pope. In 2011, the Vatican and Croatia released a joint issue which commemorated the tercentenary of the birth of Rugerius Boscovich (1711 – 1787).
Vatican and Eastern Europe (1846–1958)
The relations with Russia changed drastically for a second reason. The Baltic states and Poland gained their independence from Russia after World War I, thus enabling a relatively free church life in those former Russian countries. Estonia was the first country to look for Vatican ties. On 11 April 1919, Secretary of State Pietro Gasparri informed the Estonian authorities that the Vatican would agree to have diplomatic relations. A concordat was agreed upon in principle a year later, in June 1920. Because of the small Catholic population in predominantly Protestant Estonia, the handful of Catholic priests there continued to be administered from Latvia until 1924. Development of an independent Catholic hierarchy for Estonia began late in that year with the formation of the Apostolic Administration of Estonia in November.