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Pope Francis arrives in Jordan Saturday at the start of a Middle East tour aiming to boost ties with Muslims and Jews as well as easing an age-old rift within Christianity itself. The Vatican has billed Francis' first visit to a region roiled by religious and political differences as a "pilgrimage of prayer," saying the pope will shun bulletproof vehicles in favour of open-top cars despite security concerns. "It will be a purely religious trip," the pope told some 50,000 pilgrims at his last general audience in St Peter's Square before his three-day visit that takes him to Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian territories. That ceremony in which he will take part in a special joint prayer with Bartholomew on Sunday in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre -- venerated as the place of Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection -- is seen by the Vatican as the highlight of the visit.
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