Pope Benedict XVI is on a week-long trip to the Middle East.

Despite the Vatican's insistence that the trip is religious and not political, he is not perceived as merely a pilgrim by those in the region.

The head of the Catholic church urged worshippers gathered at the Amman stadium not to lose their faith during these difficult times.

Earlier in a speech on Saturday at the King Hussein mosque in Amman, he warned that "ideological manipulation" of religion for political ends could act as a "catalyst for tension and division".

It is his first visit to a region embroiled in political controversies, religious mistrust, and increasing sectarian violence.

Can the Pope's tour of a turbulent Holy Land remain merely a personal pilgrimage? How will it be interpreted? And what impact will it have on the Middle East?

Inside Story is joined by Sean Lovett, the head of the English section of Vatican Radio, Victor Baterseh, the mayor of Bethlehem, and Nihad Awad, the executive director of the Council for American Islamic relations.

This episode of Inside Story aired from Sunday, May 10, 2009.