The Pope travels to the Holy Land

Pope Francis will visit for three days Jordan, the Palestinian territories and Israel. The Vatican reported that this trip has no political content as it constitutes a spiritual pilgrimage for the leader of 1200 billion Catholics worldwide.

However, in the Middle East some people would have considered this trip as a political gesture. Palestinians celebrated the Vatican’s decision to fly directly to the West Bank from Jordan, and then continue to Israel.

Pope Francis will arrive tomorrow to Jordan and will visit the place where Jesus was baptized according to the tradition. On sunday, he will go to Bethlehem to meet with President Mahmoud Abbas. That same day he will go to Jerusalem to meet with Bartholomew.

On monday he will be in Israel, where he is meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Shimon Peres.