The stamps issued by Isle of Man commemorating the visit of Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to Britian next month (September) have printed the wrong location name due to a recent change in venue for the Papal Mass by the Roman Catholic Authorities.

The initial plans were for the Pope to beatify Cardianl Newman at Coventry Airport but due to the large number of expected visitors to the beatification the venue has been changed to Coventry Airport.

The sheets of stamps published by the Isle of Man with the wrong information  had already been sent to dealers worldwide in advance of its issue date and therefore it was too late to recall the stamps back.

The stamps were issued on the 11th August 2  commemorate the beatification of Cardinal Newman and the first papal visit to Britain since May 1982, when Pope John Paul II’s six-day tour drew huge crowds.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown extended a formal invitation to the current Pope and the trip is the first official state visit by a pontiff, as that of John Paul II was on a pastoral basis and did not follow an official invitation by the UK government.

 The miniature sheet as seen above features two stamps featuring Cardinal Newman and a label image of Pope Benedict XVI

published August 28th, 2010