Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Pope's Visit To Feature Rare Biblical Artifacts

The World Meeting of Families - Philadelphia 2015 with Museum of the Bible today announced that Verbum Domini II: God's Word Goes Out to the Nations will be on display at the Pennsylvania Convention Center Monday, September 21 - September 26, 2015 as a special exhibit celebrating the World Meeting of Families Congress and the visit of Pope Francis to the United States.

Originally exhibited at the Vatican in Rome, Verbum Domini II will showcase more than 80 artifacts from Museum of the Bible's Green Collection, one of the largest private collections of rare biblical texts and artifacts in the world. The exhibit will encompass 15,000 square feet in eight galleries and 24 display cases in Hall G of the Pennsylvania Convention Center, accessible via the Broad Street Atrium. Exhibit hours will be announced in September. Verbum Domini II will be open to the public and admission will be free.

Some highlights of this spectacular exhibit will include:
  • Fragments from the Dead Sea Scrolls;
  • Five pages from the Bodmer Psalms Codex, a near-complete copy of the book of Psalms in Greek on papyrus from the third to fourth century CE;
  • Pages from the Codex Climaci Rescriptus, which contains Christian texts from the sixth to eighth century, most of them in Aramaic, the language Jesus spoke;
  • The fourteenth century Hours and Psalter of Elizabeth de Bohun, Countess of Northampton, one of the most extensively illuminated manuscripts of its kind
  • A first edition of the King James Biblethe Great "HE" Bible of 1611the most influential translation of the Bible ever produced in English; and
  • The Eliot Indian Bible of 1685, a second edition of the first Bible ever printed in America.
"We are delighted to have such an extraordinary and deeply moving exhibition in Verbum Domini as part of the World Meeting of Families and Papal Visit," said Robert J. Ciaruffoli, President of the World Meeting of Families - Philadelphia 2015. "In bringing such important religious texts to Philadelphia for this event, Museum of the Bible truly brings them to the world. We are grateful for the ability to share this wonderful exhibit with all who will visit our City and all who live here. Its appeal transcends faith tradition and will certainly encourage families to come together to share in its wonder. It will undoubtedly be one of the highlights of a historic week."

"My family has a love of the Bible that has been passed down for many generations, and that's why I am passionate about giving others the opportunity to explore this book that has shaped and reshaped the history of the world," said Steve Green, Founder and Chairman of the Board of Directors, Museum of the Bible. "In Verbum Domini II: God's Word Goes Out to the Nations, visitors will have the unique opportunity to experience different parts of the globe and time periods to see how the Bible has impacted different nations. To us, there is simply no better moment to expose such a beautiful message - and such beautiful artifacts - to the world than in Philadelphia during Pope Francis' historic visit to the United States."

Co-sponsored by the Holy See's Pontifical Council for the Family and the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, the World Meeting of Families is a triennial global event that seeks to strengthen the sacred bonds of family across the globe and highlight its intrinsic value to the good of society. This international gathering will welcome Pope Francis to the United States for the first time in his Papacy. Being held in the United States for the first time ever, the official theme for the 2015 World Meeting of Families is "Love is Our Mission: The Family Fully Alive."

For more information regarding the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia, visit www.WorldMeeting2015.org. For more information regarding The Holy See's Pontifical Council for the Family, which co-sponsors the World Meeting of Families, visit http://www.familiam.org/famiglia_eng/00002554_HOME_ENG.html

You can also engage the World Meeting of Families - Philadelphia on Facebook (World Meeting of Families 2015) (Encuentro Mundial de las Familias - Filadelfia 2015), Twitter (@WMF2015) (@WMF2015ES) and Instagram (WMF2015).

About World Meetings of Families
Beginning with 1994, The Year of the Family, the Pontifical Council for the Family has been responsible for organizing the World Meetings of Families in Rome (1994); Rio de Janeiro (1997); Rome (2000); Manila (2003); Valencia (2006); Mexico City (2009); Milan (2012); and now, Philadelphia (2015). Since its inception by Saint John Paul II, the World Meeting of Families has sought to strengthen the sacred bonds of family across the globe.

About Museum of the Bible

Museum of the Bible invites all people to engage with the Bible through museum exhibits and scholarly pursuits. The 430,000-square-foot museum, dedicated to the impact, history and narrative of the Bible, will open in 2017 three blocks from the U.S. Capitol in Washington. As of 2015, its traveling exhibits have visited numerous U.S. cities and four other countries. The museum supports academic research through its Green Scholars Initiative and through development of a high school Bible curriculum for domestic and international use. For more information, visit http://www.museumoftheBible.org.

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