Sede Vacante 2013

The heraldic achievement of the Sede Vacante, alongside the arms of the incumbent Cardinal Camerlengo Tarcisio Pietro Evasio Bertone with the motto 'Fidem Custodire Concordiam Servare' (To keep the faith, to preserve concord) on a banner below the arms; to the left, the state name 'CITTÀ DEL VATICANO'; to the right, the inscription 'Sede Vacante MMXIII'; a cross pattée centred at top and bottom; below, the name of designer Patrizio Daniele and engraver Maria Carmela Colaneri, and the mint mark 'R'.

The sede vacante — the period between the death or resignation of a pope and the election of his successor — is one of the most precisely regulated phases in Vatican law and ceremony. When it occurs, the Cardinal Camerlengo assumes fiduciary administration of the Church's assets; he oversees preparations for the conclave and officially seals the vacancy of the Apostolic See. In 2013 this office was held by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, longtime Secretary of State of the Holy See under Benedict XVI. The 2013 sede vacante was historically extraordinary: on 11 February, Pope Benedict XVI announced his voluntary resignation, effective 28 February — the first papal resignation since Celestine V in 1294. This began a vacancy under conditions without direct precedent in modern canon law.

The conclave, held from 12 to 13 March 2013 in the Sistine Chapel, elected Jorge Mario Bergoglio as the 266th Bishop of Rome; he took the name Francis. It was the first conclave in decades in which a still-living predecessor played no part. As an independent state, the Vatican has minted euro circulation coins in small quantities since the Lateran Treaty of 1929 and issues commemorative coins for special occasions; the 2013 2-euro commemorative coin documents the sede vacante as a state and canonical event of that year.