Pope John Paul II Cultural Center — Discover the Cultural Center

It may seem like a strange place for me to be visiting, but my husband is Catholic. We went because he wanted to see an international nativity (chreche) exhibit that they were doing. It’s a very interesting exhibit. There are small chreches from all over the world. It’s interesting to see how the figures are represented. What’s similar and what’s different?

What we didn’t know was there, was this exhibit about JPII and his relationship with Jews. Despite obvious and not so obvious differences with many of his positions — I really respect the work he did in this area. He did something shocking for a Pope. He apologized for the church’s actions. His apology at the Kotel was a beautiful moment, and always makes me tear up. This exhibit is one that all Jews and Christians should see.

There is also an exhibition of sculpture representing famous scenes from the Torah. The sculputers are by Phillip Ratner, who is Jewish and a Christian sculptur. Ratner’s work is truely inspiring and seeing it in person is more than worth the effort. To get a sample of his work you can go to http://www.ratnermuseum.com
These are not the same ones I saw, but they are the same style. I especially like “Tree of Life” which is quite similar to the version on display at the JPII cultural center.