Pope Francis mourns Cardinal Macharski

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has expressed sadness over the death of Polish Cardinal Franciszek Macharski who died earlier Tuesday after an ilness at age 89. 

Listen to the report by Stefan Bos:

With pictures and somber yet hopefull music Polish media have begun mourning Cardinal  Macharski. He held one of the top positions in Poland's Catholic church in an difficult era when the church played a leading role in 
opposing Communism. 

Poles believe that those actions helped to eventually end the Communist regime's hold on power. 

The popular Macharski served for many years as archbishop of Krakow, inheriting the position opened by the election of then Pope John Paul II.

He was appointed Krakow archbishop in 1978 by John Paul and served in that position until 2005. He retired two months after John Paul died after a 27-year pontificate. 

POPE IN "PAIN" 

From the Vatican, Pope Francis wrote that he received the news of Macharski's death "with pain."  In a letter to the current Krakow archbishop, Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, the Pope said that Macharski in his words "guided the church in Krakow in the not easy period of political and social changes with wisdom."

Pope Francis was also among the last people to see the frail cardinal. Last week he made a surpise visit to University Hospital in Krakow where Cardinal was receiving care for what was described as a protracted illness.

The pope reportedly made it a point to pray for the frail Cardinal, who now leaves behind a more confident church which still faces challenges in post-Communist Poland.   

President Andrzej Duda called the cardional's death a "huge loss" and called Macharski a "great Pole (and) an outstanding man of the Church."

In Krakow, the Royal Sigismund Bell at the Wawel Cathedral tolled for several minutes. The bell is a national symbol that only tolls on certain feast days and national holidays and is otherwise reserved for special occasions.