The President of the Polish Republic, Lech Kaczynski, recently made an official visit to Israel and the Territories of the Palestinian Authority. This was the first visit of a head of state to the country since the end of the war between the Israeli army and Hezbollah forces in southern Lebanon. The President met the leaders of the Israeli government and of the Palestinian Authority. As reported by a statement of the Custodianship of the Holy Land, his visit made “an important contribution to the re-establishment of peace in the region”. During its stay in Israel and in the Territories, the Polish delegation visited the basilica of the Holy Sepulchre, where it stopped to pray. A meeting was also held with the Franciscan Fathers of Polish origin, including Fra Wladyslaw Brzezinski and Fra Jerzy Kraj, and with other compatriots who work as missionaries in the Holy Land. President Kaczynski laid a wreath in the Latin cemetery of Mount Sinai which contains the tombs of 87 Poles, most of them soldiers who lost their lives in the Second World War. The visit ended with a moment of meditation and prayer at the tomb of Oskar Schindler.
