The excitement over the visit of Pope Francis to Jerusalem is gradually building as the hours pass and the moment of his arrival approaches. One sees it in subtle signs: an intensification of security checks, heightened police attention in particularly sensitive areas (such as Temple Mount - or al-Aqsa Mosque esplanade - and the area around the Cenacle, also known as the “Upper Room,” where tradition has it that the Last Supper was celebrated).

The great enthusiasm through which Jordanian Muslims are expressing their welcome to Pope Francis is indicative of a basic fact that he is different. Different from the other four Popes who had visited Amman since 1964, and all had European ancestry. This pontiff had a third world background like many Jordanians, as he had worked as a chemist technician in a pharmaceutical company before joining the seminary. He shares with many Jordanians the trauma of the poor working class communities since he worked as a floor janitor in a multi-storey office complex.

Omar Abboud, the Argentinean Muslim who will accompany Francis in the Holy Land, describes the Pope’s decision to have a Jew and Muslim accompany him as “one of the strongest gestures” the world has seen.

“It’s a long time since the world has had such a strong spiritual leader”, Omar Abboud, the Muslim from Buenos Aires who will accompany the Pope on his “pilgrimage of prayer” in the Holy Land, told me on the eve of the Francis’ departure for the Holy Land.

Jerusalem awaits Pope’s Francis’ arrival in the Holy Land tomorrow, amidst a sea of over one thousand Vatican and Israeli flags. The first port of call in the Pope’s Middle Eastern voyage will be Amman, followed by Bethlehem and finally the Holy City of the three monotheistic faiths. The white and gold drapes with the Holy See insignia adorn the Notre Dame Centre, the Christian neighbourhood and the Shuk marketplace and run around the walls of the Old City, until the King David and to Rehavia, up until the front of the presidential residence, where Shimon Peres lives.

When Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew meet in Jerusalem on May 25-26, 2014, they will recall the meeting of their predecessors Pope Paul IV and Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras in the same city in 1964. In the midst of prayer and recollection in the Holy Places, the leaders of the Catholic Church and Orthodox Church will give thanks to God for the dramatic change in the relationship between their churches in the past fifty years. They will recall the prayer of the Lord for this disciples ‘that they all be one' (John 17:21).

In January 1964 Pope Paul VI embarked on his visit to Jesus’ homeland, where the great embrace with the Patriarch of Constantinople, Athenagoras, took place. Here is the story of his historic trip.

Jerusalem’s Bishop Shomali said everyone is allowed to travel to Bethlehem for the Pope’s Mass, but people in Jerusalem are unhappy because security prevents them getting close to him.

Jordanians, inspired by the genuine welcoming wordings of their Monarch Abdullah II, of their official representatives and of different Christians entities operating in Jordan and motivated by the friendly and rewarding relationship between Jordan and the Holy See, rejoice to have the privilege of hosting for the fourth time the head of the Holy See, the Messenger of Truth and the guardian of St. Peter’s legacy.

On an upcoming trip to the Middle East, Pope Francis is expected to prioritize his visit with Palestinians, including a refugee camp, in a move interpreted by many as a 'recognition' of a future Palestinian state.

Many Christians in the Holy Land have had their hopes dashed: The Pope of the peripheries is about to arrive and they won’t get to see him.