With Scripture readings, a tribute to God and a sigh of relief, an international array of officials opened the Museum of the Bible in the nation’s capital.

“We want to just take a moment and stop and celebrate and rejoice that this dream is coming true,” said museum co-founder Steve Green, who exhaled audibly before speaking Friday (November 17) to more than 400 people in the new museum’s World Stage Theater.

“This is a dream of millions all over the world that love this book, that use it as a guide for their life, and we just want to take some time and celebrate and dedicate this space to our God.”

Green, the president of the Hobby Lobby craft store business, and his family are the primary funders of the 430,000-square-foot building with views of the U.S. Capitol and the Washington Monument.

Green capped a dedication ceremony that featured greetings read by Washington’s Cardinal Donald Wuerl from Pope Francis and by Israeli Tourism Minister Yariv Levin from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The dignitaries concluded the festivities with a ribbon-cutting between the 40-foot brass Gutenberg Gates at the museum’s entrance.

The eight-story museum is set to open to the public on Saturday. Admission is free but donations are suggested.

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson and Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., were among the supporters in the private gathering, where they were greeted by Navy Chief of Chaplains Margaret Kibben and Rabbi Stuart Weinblatt of the Jewish Federations of North America and serenaded by Grammy-winning artist CeCe Winans singing “Amazing Grace.”

Located just two blocks from the National Mall, the museum joins august edifices celebrating the nation’s civic history as it displays floors on the impact, history and narrative of the Bible. Speakers from near and far applauded such a placement for such a museum.

“It is appropriate that in the nation’s capital, where we have soaring museums and monuments and where people visit us from around the world, that the Museum of the Bible would be built here,” said Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser.