WASHINGTON (RNS) Rabbi Abraham Skorka, Argentina’s most famous Jewish citizen and a close friend of Pope Francis, was on the road this week when news from Buenos Aires shocked his nation and made headlines around the world.
Given Argentina’s large Jewish community — 250,000 people — the news hit too close to home for Skorka.
On Sunday (Jan. 18), the Jewish prosecutor investigating the 1994 bombing of Buenos Aires’ Jewish center — an attack that killed 85 people, including friends of Skorka — was found dead in his apartment with a bullet in his head.
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Skorka said his friendship with Francis has deepened since he became pope, and the rabbi told the story of a trip he took to the Vatican in November with his grown daughter, Gabriela Skorka, who was taken by Francis’ persistent humility and the strength of the bond between the pope and her father.
After the pope and rabbi embraced, she told them: “I am proud of both of you.”
