Massive collection of Catholic artifacts leave Italy for the first time in 700 years: Their destination? The Big Apple!

An exhibit of medieval manuscripts and papal documents that have close ties with St. Francis of Assisi will be held at the United Nations in New York from November 17 to the 28.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - The exhibition is titled "Friar Francis: Traces, Words, Images" and is a collection of 19 manuscripts and artifacts from the Sacred Convent of St. Francis of Assisi in Italy.

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The artifacts on display date from the 13th and 14th centuries, and are being taken outside of Italy for the first time in 700 years.

They will be moved from the U.N. headquarters after November 28, and will then be open to the public from December 2 to January 14, at the Brooklyn Borough Hall.

The Vatican nuncio to the United Nations, Archbishop Bernardito Auza, said that this very difficult and costly process is "worth the effort, because we believe that the values practiced and preached by St. Francis are also the fundamental values of the United Nations, namely peace, the harmonious development of people in brotherhood and love for nature."

"Without these values, we have wars and conflicts, injustices and all forms of slavery, environmental crises and disasters," he continued.

Of the numerous pieces, one of the most significant is Codex 338, which contains the oldest existing copies of the St. Francis' writings, including "Rule of the Friars Minor" and the original draft of "The Canticle of the Creatures" which was dictated by St. Francis, considered one of the oldest poetic texts in Italian literature.

Seemingly in tandem with Pope Francis' announcement that he will be visiting Philadelphia in September of 2015 for the Festival of Families, many speculate that the Pope will also add New York or Washington to his itinerary while in the United States.

A week prior to the Pope's announcement, Auza said that if Francis does visit Philadelphia he will also come to New York, which would coincide with a U.N. General Assembly session.

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