JERUSALEM (CWNews.com) - A new poll on Wednesday found most Israeli Jews were looking forward to Pope John Paul II's visit to the country this month, although the majority were secular or non-practicing Jews.

    Sixty percent of Jewish Israeli said they are happy about the upcoming trip March 21-26, while only 8.3 percent of ultra-Orthodox Israelis agreed with them. Thirteen percent had a negative view.

    Dr. Ron Kronish, director of the Interreligious Coordinating Council in Israel (ICCI), said: "These findings contradict the 'conventional wisdom' that Israelis are either negative or apathetic about the Pope, Christianity and related matters."

    The ICCI said most Israelis realized the main purpose of the visit was a "pilgrimage to holy sites" or "spreading a message of peace and dialogue in the year 2000." The poll found a "high level of ignorance" about the Church's teachings on anti-Semitism and the Holocaust: only 44 percent of Israelis were aware of the Vatican's open opposition to anti-Semitism.