The Israeli Tourism Minister is not hiding anything when several times now he publicly stated the financial gain of the pope's visit. http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1241719494461&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Well if he's going to visit your country and convince you to come to Israel (and help Israel's economy) then you as a Catholic should make some demands - after all he wants Cahtolic money. Make him reinstate our (catholic religious) rights to guide pilgrimage groups because recently our rights have been curbed (we cannot guide groups in Masada where there is a Byzantine church and in Qumran and Caesarea Maritima the ancient diocese of the Holyland), our licenses are under Israeli review etc... Why can't catholic groups have a catholic priest as a guide? A guide from a different faith will not be able to bring out the spiritual riches that a catholic religious can - and catholic groups should ask for nothing less. If we bring Cahtolic money to Israel, we should be able to call the shots and have catholic guides.