Britain's most senior Catholic clergyman was guest of honour at a Finchley Jewish centre last Thursday.

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, who was appointed head of Britain's four million Catholics in 2000, visited the Sternberg Centre in East End Road, on the Jewish harvest festival of Succoth.

Pupils from St Joseph's Roman Catholic Junior School in Watford Way, Hendon, were also invited to join pupils at the Sternberg Centre's Akiva school for the day.

"I'm delighted to see them getting to know and like each other. I hope this relationship grows," said the Cardinal.

The Cardinal was echoed by Sir Sigmund Sternberg, the centre's founder and a papal knight.

"It's about teaching the children," he said.

During the visit, Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor was presented with a book of Jewish prayers by 11-year-old Jonny Tamir, Sir Sternberg's grandson and a pupil at the Akiva school.

Also present was Holocaust survivor Leon Greenman, 91, the only remaining survivor of 700 Jews taken from Holland to Birkenau, near Auschwitz in what is now Poland.

"It was terrible. I saw one of us get beaten up so much blood I never saw.

"I promised God I would tell the world what happened if I was spared and I have been talking ever since," he said, before addressing the children.

Akiva headteacher Sue de Botton said of the visit: "It's wonderful. It's the raison d'etre of education in its fullest sense how to relate to the world and other cultures,"

St Joseph's headteacher Marc Boucherat added: "Within five minutes the children were trying to organise a football match between the schools."

September 30, 2002 19:00