Justice Minister Avraham Sharir met here Thursday with Cardinal Ernesto Korfio Omada, spiritual leader of 80 million Mexican Catholics, who is visiting Israel. He used the occasion. to extend a formal invitation to Pope John Paul II to visit Israel. Omada will have an audience with the Pope in Rome after leaving Israel, to be followed by a meeting with King Juan Carlos of Spain in Madrid.
Omada’s meeting with Sharir, who also heads the Tourism Ministry, was seen here as part of an overall effort to improve the atmosphere between Israel and the Vatican. The Cardinal called on Catholics to visit Israel and especially Jerusalem.
Omada was accompanied by senior representatives of the Catholic Church in Mexico and of the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic lay organization.
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