Supreme leader of the Roman Catholic Church. Archbishop of Krakow. Proclaimed a saint by Pope Benedict XVI (2014).
 
TLS - Typewritten Letter Signed: folded, watermarked, folio. Bears the full-color heraldic crest of Pope John Paul II. Paper stock watermarked with seal of the papacy.  Proclamation addressed to (then) Monsignor Loris Francesco Capovilla, Bishop of Loreto who went on to become an archbishop and, toward the end of his life, a cardinal. Served as personal secretary to Pope Saint John XXIII.
 
This is a most unusual document. In rare instances, the pope is declared infallible when pronouncing dogma. His personal attendants, those secretaries who served him, clearly were known to make mistakes. How this particular document escaped the eyes of Stanislaw Dziwisz (the popes principal secretary for over 25 years) and made its way out of the Vatican is anyone's guess.
 
This is our theory. The pope sometimes signed blanks of official stationery to be prepared later without having to trouble him again. The secretary apparently prepared the text then ran it through the printer. Ooops. He did not properly prepare the paper and ended up with the heading to Loris Capovilla printing over the crest! Can you believe this? The secretary obviously did not graduate from secretarial school. Lucky for us, this precious document escaped the wastebasket. Note bene:  the commemorative medal and transmittal envelope not included.
 
Document is dated 10 December 1988. Reads:  On the day of your resignation from the office of Prelate of the Territorial Prelature of Loreto, I wish to express my feelings of gratitude for all the years you have so commendably dedicated to the service of the Church and the Roman Pontiffs. As a tangible sign of my gratitude, I am pleased to send you as a gift the medal commemorating the tenth year of my Pontificate, which I hope you will appreciate. I invoke upon you a continuous outpouring of heavenly gifts, and I wholeheartedly impart my Apostolic Blessing.