The Archbishop of Cracow made a 12-hour visit to Israel last Thursday so shrouded in secrecy that the Israel Foreign Ministry was unaware of the Cardinal’s visit.
Cardinal Franciszek Macharski, who is reportedly a close friend of Pope John Paul II, spent four hours in Yad Vashem lighting a memorial torch and inspecting the library and archives.
Prof. Marcel Dubois, a Catholic Professor of Philosophy at the Hebrew University, coordinated the visit with the assistance of Mayor Teddy Kollek of Jerusalem, according to press reports here.
Cracow was the scene last year of the Bar Mitzvah celebration of Eric Strom, an eighth-grader from Stamford, Conn., in the 130-year-old Templus Synagogue. The Bar Mitzvah received international media attention and was the first celebration of its kind in the once flourishing Cracow Jewish community in 35 years.
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