If anyone should know how to spell Jesus’ name, it’s the Vatican, right? Well, it turns out that whoever was making a new medal to commemorate Pope Francis either forgot or just hit the “L” key by mistake.
The medal was created by the Italian mint and features a Latin phrase that Francis has said inspired him to join the Church, reports ABC News. It was supposed to read “Vidit ergo Jesus publicanum et quia miserando atque eligendo vidit, ait illi sequere me,” which translates to “Jesus, therefore, saw the publican, and because he saw by having mercy and by choosing, He said to him, ‘Follow me.’”
However, the coin spelled Jesus with an “L” instead of a “J,” so Jesus became Lesus on 6,000 silver and bronze medals and another 200 medals.
According to The Guardian, there were four medals sold before the mistake was caught. The medals not sold have been recalled and the mistake will be corrected. But those four medals are going to skyrocket in value.
Pictures of the mistake are going around Twitter and you can see it below.
The Vatican has withdrawn papal medals after misspelling the name of Jesus http://t.co/GcLsaXDqrO (Omniroma) pic.twitter.com/9xMDSZJO08
— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) October 10, 2013
Pope Francis is the first Jesuit Pope and the first pope from Latin America. He replaced Pope Benedict XVI, who retired. The medal featured a portrait of Francis on the obverse and an image by Mariangela Crisciotti on the reverse.
image: Wikimedia Commons