XAVIER UNIVERSITY, —Throughout his life, Pope John Paul II worked to enrich the relationship between Catholics and the Jewish people, bringing the two groups closer together than ever before.

(Photo courtesy of Gillian Allen, Xavier University, Cincinnati, Ohio)

   A traveling display honoring his efforts is scheduled to be displayed in Rapid City from  May 2 to Aug. 13. “A Blessing to One Another: Pope John Paul II and the Jewish People” chronicles the pope’s associations with the Jewish community from the time of his childhood and how these lifelong associations shaped his papacy, the Catholic Church and the future of Jewish-Catholic relations. The display is scheduled to be held at 629 Main St.

   The exhibit originated at Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio. Stanford Adelstein of Rapid City has underwritten the cost of bringing the display to South Dakota.

   The 1,500 square-foot exhibition takes its name from the pope’s 1993 commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising. On that anniversary, he said, “As Christians and Jews, following the example of the faith of Abraham, we are called to be a blessing to the world. This is the common task awaiting us. It is therefore necessary for us, Christians and Jews, to be first a blessing to one another.”

   The idea for the exhibition developed while Dr. Yaffa Eliach, a Holocaust survivor, was a visiting professor at Xavier University. Eliach, who is a co-director of the exhibit and president and founder of the Shtetl Foundation, had become fascinated with the pope’s ties to the Jewish community. Those ties include growing up in a largely Jewish apartment building. Eliach said this was a story that needed to be told. “I felt it would be wonderful to make an exhibit, because I believe so much in togetherness,” she says.

   The exhibit first opened in May 2005, 40 years after Nostra Aetate, the landmark Vatican declaration on the relationship of the Catholic Church to non-Christian religions and a turning point in Jewish-Catholic relations.

   “The positive changes in Catholic-Jewish relations initiated by Pope John XXIII truly have been furthered by the ministry of Pope John Paul II. His pronouncements and actions have favorably impacted the long and positive relationships between Cincinnati’s Catholic and Jewish communities. Together, we have actively promoted religious tolerance, civil liberties, and civil rights,” said Gloria Haffer, president of the Jewish Foundation of Cincinnati.