With the pope preparing to embark on his much-anticipated trip to the Holy Land, here’s a look at one tiny — and intriguing — slice of that region that is often overlooked:

With just 400 faithful, the Hebrew-speaking Vicariate is dwarfed by the much larger Palestinian Christian community, estimated at some 180,000 in Israel and the Palestinian territories, which will be the main focus of the pope’s eight-day visit starting Friday.

Established in 1955 by a small group which included several converted Jews, some of them Holocaust survivors, the vicariate largely keeps to itself in a country founded as a Jewish state in which Christians are often suspected of being missionaries.

The Hebrew prayers reverberate through the humble Catholic chapel in Jerusalem where whitewashed walls are adorned with a small metal cross and two pictures of Jesus lined with Hebraic inscriptions.

The worshippers are part of a tiny Hebrew-speaking Catholic community, some of them descendants of Holocaust survivors, that has quietly kept the faith in the heart of Jewish state for half a century and will remain in the shadows during the visit by Pope Benedict XVI.

“Shalom Hamashiach,” the church members quietly say, using the Hebrew phrase for “Hail the Messiah,” as two white-robed priests offer communion in front of the altar in their church, a beautifully restored 19th century building just off a bustling Jerusalem street.

The unique use of Hebrew in all religious rites at the church began after the creation of Israel in 1948, when the nearly 4,000 Catholics living within the Jewish community searched for a rite of their own, said the Hebrew-speaking Catholic community’s leader, David Neuhaus.

“All of the other Christians in Israel were members of the Arab community and there was a need to find a religious framework for those Christians living in the Hebrew-speaking Jewish community,” the 47-year-old monk said.

Apolinari Szwed, who heads the Jerusalem parish, sees himself as part of Israeli society, despite the community’s peculiar position within a society in which Jewish religion and ethnicity are so tightly entwined.

“The reality of my community is that of any other Israeli. They live their lives just like any Israeli but believe in Jesus,” said Szwed, 41, who arrived in Israel from Poland 16 years ago.

Continue at the link for more, and more pictures.

PHOTO: by AFP