100 euro - Statements of the Second Vatican Council - Nostra Aetate

The 100 euro gold coin issued by the Vatican State Mint is dedicated this year to the Second Vatican Council Declaration, “Nostra Aetate” (In Our Time) published in 1965. The document expresses the Catholic Church’s openness to the knowledge of other religious traditions and affirms that all humankind, without distinction, originates from God. Our artist Orietta Rossi takes up the theme, drawing inspiration from the New Testament (Acts 10:1-33). At the centre of the coin we see the centurion Cornelius, the first Roman to convert to Christianity, and Simon Peter the fisherman. In the background is a large sheet with all kinds of animals. In response to God’s order to slaughter and eat them, Peter objects, considering such food profane and unclean. When he hears God’s reply, “What God has made clean, you must not call profane,” Peter understands that “God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.”