Artifacts from 1st papal visit to appear at MSG

Pope Francis will use artifacts from the first papal visit to the United States nearly 50 years ago when he celebrates Mass this week at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Father Michael Morris,

News 12 Staff

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Sep 24, 2015, 1:47 AM

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Updated 3,381 days ago

Pope Francis will use artifacts from the first papal visit to the United States nearly 50 years ago when he celebrates Mass this week at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Father Michael Morris, of St. Joseph's Seminary in Yonkers, runs the archives of the Archdiocese of New York.

"The pope met with President [Lyndon] Johnson at the Waldorf Astoria," Morris says.

The artifacts from that visit by Pope Paul VI are on display in the archives. Among them are the golden chalice he used when celebrating Mass at Yankee Stadium.

Pope John Paul II used the same chalice during his visit in 1995, and Francis will continue that tradition.

Francis will also carry the staff left as a memento by Paul VI.

"They're museum pieces, but they're also pieces that are alive, that are being put to use," Morris says.