Pope Francis arrives in Jordan on Saturday to start an intense three-day trip to the Middle East, bringing hope to the dwindling Christian population and an appeal to members of all religions to work together for peace, according to The Associated Press.
"This is not a protocol visit," Patriarch Louis Sako, Iraq's senior Churchman, told reporters in Amman on the eve of the visit, the AP reported. "This pope feels the pain of Christians and his arrival at this time as peoples of this region are going through conflict, killings and destruction is a message of common living. It's an appeal that everyone in this region should have the courage to review their positions, to get out of this suffocating crisis."
The Christian population has been declining steadily across the Middle East for generations, according to the AP. The Arab revolts of the recent years, the civil war in Syria, and the rise of radical Islam are only accelerating the process.
In Israel and the occupied West Bank, more Palestinian Christians are looking to leave, blaming Israel for withering their economic prospects and hobbling their freedom of movement, the AP reported.
"We are waiting impatiently for a word of peace from the pope that will raise morale. People in the street are asking what message will the pope carry," Sako said, according to the AP. It is the first visit to the region by Francis, leader of the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics.
After meeting King Abdullah and saying a Mass in an Amman stadium, the pontiff will meet refugees from Syria and Iraq in Bethany on the Jordan, the place where according to tradition Jesus was baptized, the AP reported.
On Sunday morning Francis flies by helicopter to Bethlehem, making a six-hour visit to what the Vatican's official program calls "the State of Palestine," a terminology Israel rejects, according to the AP.
In 2012, the Vatican angered Israel by supporting a vote in the United Nations General Assembly to give Palestinians de facto statehood recognition. Israel argues such a move should only come through negotiations, the AP reported.
