Cardinal Franciszek Macharski, the retired successor to St John Paul II as archbishop of Kraków, died on Tuesday at the age of 89.
Just five days before his death, Pope Francis made an unscheduled stop to pray at the hospital where the cardinal was in a coma.
Meeting the bishops of Poland on July 27, Pope Francis said that he knew they all were worried about the ailing cardinal, even if they could no longer visit with him. "At least draw close," the Pope told them; go to the hospital and "touch the wall as if to say, 'Brother, I am near.' To visit the sick is a work of mercy."
