John Paul II's 2000 Jubilee pilgrimage to the Holy Land was the first papal visit to Israel, the Palestinian territories, and Jordan in decades — a journey carefully negotiated at the diplomatic level for years before it happened. Benedict XVI followed in 2009, the year this coin was issued, completing a similar itinerary that included Bethlehem, Nazareth, and Jerusalem's Yad Vashem memorial. Cook Islands had by this point become a prolific licensor for themed commemorative silver, producing dozens of religiously oriented issues annually for the collector market rather than circulation.
John Paul II's 2000 Jubilee pilgrimage to the Holy Land was the first papal visit to Israel, the Palestinian territories, and Jordan in decades — a journey carefully negotiated at the diplomatic level for years before it happened. Benedict XVI followed in 2009, the year this coin was issued, completing a similar itinerary that included Bethlehem, Nazareth, and Jerusalem's Yad Vashem memorial. Cook Islands had by this point become a prolific licensor for themed commemorative silver, producing dozens of religiously oriented issues annually for the collector market rather than circulation.