Montreal, Canada, Jun 2, 2005 / 22:00 pm
A much-anticipated exhibit of more than 300 pieces of Vatican art was launched yesterday at an invitation-only gathering at Notre-Dame Basilica.
St. Peter and the Vatican: The Legacy of the Popes is making its only Canadian and Eastern North American stop in Montreal. It features paintings, mosaics, vestments, liturgical objects and Vatican documents that trace the history of the papacy from St. Peter to the current day.
One of the oldest objects is a 4th-century mosaic of St. Peter. On display is also the legendary Mandylion of Edessa, a piece of linen with an image of Christ’s face and mounted in a frame. Legend has it that the object has miraculous powers of healing.
The exhibit also has items belonging to the still very young papacy of Pope Benedict XVI, such as the brilliant chalice he used to celebrate his first mass as Pope in the Sistine Chapel. Visitors can also see the urns in which the cardinals placed their votes and the apparatus that generated the white and black smoke signals, indicating to the world whether a new Pope had been elected.