Biblical artifacts on display as World Meeting of Families opens

Artifacts spanning the Bible’s history are on display inside the Pennsylvania Convention Center as the World Meeting of Families kicks off.

“It’s good for every person to be in contact with this,” said Wilgis Agossa, 34, of Winnipeg, Canada. “It makes the Bible more real.”

Organizers held a special preview Monday of 80 artifacts on exhibit from the Museum of the Bible’s Green Collection. The exhibit, which is called “Verbum Domini II,” was displayed at the Vatican last year.

Items in the collection are on loan to the museum by the Green Family, the owners of Hobby Lobby.

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The exhibit is free and open to the public by entering the Pennsylvania Convention Center’s Broad Street entrance.

On display are Dead Sea Scrolls, and fragments of the Bible dating back to the 4th century.

The Museum of the Bible is set to open in Washington D.C. in fall 2017.

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The opening of the exhibit came as thousands of people descended on the Pennsylvania Convention Center to check-in for the World Meeting of Families, which begins Tuesday.

Sophie Freynet-Agossa, who worksf on marriage and family issues for the Catholic church in Winnipeg, Canada, said she came to Philadelphia for obvious reasons. She wanted to see the pope, and the topics that will be discussed at the World Meeting of Families were close to her heart.

“I’m super-passionate about marriage and family issues,” Freynet-Agossa said.