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C-32814

POPE MAY ISSUE DANTE ENCYCLICAL

NEW YORK--This fresco of Dante Alighieri is the work of Giotto di

Bondone, religious painter who was a contemporary of the famed

Italian poet. This year, the Catholic Church is observing the 700th

anniversary of Dante's birth in 1265 at Florence. Pope Paul VI is

expected to issue an encyclical to commemorate the Dante anniversary.

The Vatican City Post Office has issued a special series of Dante

postage stamps, and Osservatore Romano, Vatican daily, has devoted

much space to Dante. The poet, whose major work was "The Divine

Comedy," died at Ravenna, Sept. 14, 1321, and his tomb is at Florence's

Church of Santa Croce. Giotto's portrait of Dante is at the Firenze

Museum in Italy.

Credit Must Read:

RELIGIOUS NEWS SERVICE PHOTO (PL-7B-65-NAB)