New Zealand / Te Ao Maori

Pope Francis shown Māori tukutuku panels

22:53 pm on 26 September 2015

Pope Francis has been shown New Zealand's tukutuku panels during a visit to the United Nations' headquarters in New York for its 70th anniversary commemoration.

Pope Francis is shown New Zealand's tukutuku art at the UN's headquarters in New York. Photo: UN Photo / Evan Schneider

The tukutuku panels were handmade by 40 Māori weavers and were presented to the UN earlier this year in addition to New Zealand's original rimu wall, which was gifted in 1952.

Each of the panels has its own unique story: some are traditional, while others were designed especially for the UN.

Prime Minister John Key will join the 160 world leaders at the assembly at the UN.

Pope Francis, meanwhile, will continue his tour of the US - his first visit to the country.

The leader of the Catholic church celebrated mass for 20,000 people at a packed Madison Square Garden in New York, his final public engagement in the US' biggest city.

He will now travel to Philadephia, where more than one million people are expected to attend a papal mass.

The pontiff has also visited Washington DC.

- RNZ / BBC