20 Lire - Ioannes Paulus II Artists

The year 2000 Vatican coinage was issued as part of the Jubilee series, one of the most significant events in the Catholic liturgical calendar — a Holy Year celebrated every quarter-century and drawing pilgrims to Rome by the millions. John Paul II had campaigned heavily within the Church for the Jubilee's themes of debt relief for developing nations, a push that gained only partial traction with creditor governments despite sustained papal pressure throughout the late 1990s.