"A Blessing to One Another" is a landmark exhibition celebrating the extraordinary life and legacy of the late pontiff. Premiering at Xavier University in Cincinnati on May 18, "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 illustrates how these lifelong associations shaped his papacy, the Catholic Church and the future of Jewish-Catholic relations.

Pope John Paul II has broken the chain of 2,000 years of painful history between Catholics and Jews. He was the first pope to enter a synagogue in 2,000 years, as well as the first pope to establish diplomatic relations with and officially visit the State of Israel. Pope John Paul II also spoke of repentance for past treatment of the Jewish people. "A Blessing to One Another: Pope John Paul II and the Jewish People" opens during the 40th anniversary of the Vatican II document Nostra Aetate, a declaration on the relationship of the Catholic Church to non-Christian religions and a turning point in Catholic-Jewish relations.

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 (cf. Gen. 12:2 ff.). This is the common task awaiting us. It is therefore necessary for us, Christians and Jews, to be first a blessing to one another."

Eight foot high replicas of vintage photographs and postcards will serve as the exhibit walls. These photographs, along with artifacts and videos, will take visitors back in time to pre-war Wadowice, the Krakow ghetto during World War II, and his ministry in Krakow and Rome. As visitors walk through the exhibit, symbolically retracing the pope’s steps, they will see the church in Wadowice as the pope saw it from his own bedroom window; they will learn about Jewish life in World War II after walking through a re-creation of the gate of the Krakow ghetto. At the exhibit’s end, visitors will be able to write prayers and place them in a replica of the Western Wall in Jerusalem, just as the pope did during his visit to Israel in 2000. These prayers will be transferred to Jerusalem after the exhibit closes.

Born Karol Wojtyla, Pope John Paul II lived in Wadowice, Poland, a town where a quarter of his classmates were Jewish. He was especially close to Jerzy Kluger, the son of the president of Wadowice’s Jewish community. Kluger lives in Rome today and remained a close friend of the pontiff until John Paul II’s death.

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 and his close childhood friendship with Kluger. 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 lead financial sponsor of "A Blessing to One Another" is The Jewish Foundation of Cincinnati, with major support from Xavier University of Cincinnati and in partnership with the John Paul II Cultural Center in Washington, D.C. The exhibit is being created and produced by the Xavier University, the Hillel Jewish Student Center of Cincinnati, and The Shtetl Foundation of New York.