The Vatican was forced to withdraw thousands of papal medals this week because the name “Jesus” was misspelled.
Yes, the Vatican misspelled Jesus.
According to Reuters , the medals were created in gold, silver and bronze by the Italian State Mint. The medals, which were made to mark the first year of Pope Francis’ pontificate, had “Jesus” misspelled “Lesus.”
The medals went on sale on October 8 but were removed once someone realized that there was an error.
Yahoo News reports that the coins featured Pope Francis’ face on one side and a Latin phrase on the other. Pope Francis often says that the phrase, which you can read below, inspired him to pursue the priesthood.
The phrase reads, when written correctly: “Vidit ergo Jesus publicanum et quia miserando antque eligendo vidit, ait illi sequere me. (Jesus, therefore, saw the publican, and because he saw by having mercy and by choosing, he said to him, ‘Follow me.’)
Having Jesus misspelled on an official Vatican medal is a little embarrassing for the church. On the bright side, it’s great news for coin collectors. Four of the medals were purchased before the Vatican shop had them removed and those coins could end up fetching a lot of money in the rare coin market.
Photo of Vatican medal with “Lesus” instead of “Jesus” pic.twitter.com/qrtxFd2mDZ
— Catholic News Svc (@CatholicNewsSvc) October 10, 2013
Apparently Vatican withdrawing #PopeFrancis medal cuz has “Lesus” instead of “Jesus.” The 4 already sold will be collector’s items.
— Catholic News Svc (@CatholicNewsSvc) October 10, 2013