JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - Missouri's Republican U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt met Pope Francis and was there when he donated a rare bible to the Library of Congress.
The pope donated a St. John's illuminated Bible to the national library during a visit to Washington, D.C. on Thursday. House Speaker John Boehner and Blunt, who chairs a committee on the library, were present when Francis donated the Bible.
Blunt says meeting the pontiff was a humbling and memorable experience.
According to the Library of Congress there are only 11 other sets of the Apostles Edition. The donated Bible is more than 1,130 pages and is 2 feet tall and 3 feet wide when open.
It's the first illuminated and handwritten Bible commissioned by a monastery in more than five centuries.
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