Exhibition on John Paul II’s efforts to heal Jewish-Catholic relations
(September 3, 2010) Pope John Paul II’s tireless efforts to end 2,000 years of painful
conflict between Jews and Catholics is the subject of an exhibition in Maryland, USA.
The Jewish Museum of Maryland is hosting the exhibition which opened on Thursday and
will run through New Year’s day 2011, the Catholic Church’s World day of Peace. The
title of the exhibition, “A Blessing To One Another: Pope John Paul II and the Jewish
People,” is taken from Pope John Paul’s 1993 address at the 50th anniversary of the
Warsaw Ghetto uprising, when the pope declared Christians and Jews “are called to
be a blessing to the world. The exhibition was created by Xavier University, the
Hillel Center of Cincinnati and the Shtetl Foundation and has been travelling throughout
the US for several years. Organizers say the exhibition includes a strong educational
component, and hope many students and teachers from both Jewish and Catholic schools
will visit the exhibition.