(ANSA) - Vatican City, May 15 - A rabbi and an Islamic leader will accompany Pope Francis on his late-May trip to the Holy Land, said the Vatican on Thursday. Pope Francis will visit Israel, Jordan and Palestinian Territories from May 24 to 26 with an ecumenical delegation that includes "old friends" - Rabbi Abraham Skorka and Muslim leader Omar Abbou.

"They have known each other for a long time so there will be no need to make large debates on inter-religious dialogue", said Father Federico Lombardi, Director of the Vatican Press Office.

The Vatican also reported that the Pope will meet with Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople on four occasions as the visit also celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Catholic-Orthodox Join Declaration of 1965 by Paul VI and Athenagoras I.

In spite of recent vandalism to church property in Jerusalem, the Vatican anticipates a "peaceful atmosphere", the spokesman said.

"Francis will arrive at Amman's stadium and Bethlehem's Manger Square in an open-roof jeep, without any bullet-proofing," Father Lombardi said.

Father Lombardi added that otherwise the Pope will not be traveling in the famed popemobile he uses to get around St Peter's Square nor armored cars but "in closed cars".

In Israel, the pope is expected to visit the Wailing Wall, Jerusalem's historic Western Wall, on May 26 where he will say a prayer and leave a prayer message in one of its crevices as is tradition, and as had been done by his predecessors Benedict XVI and John Paul II.

The trip is the second visit to the Holy Land by the pontiff. The young Jorge Mario Bergoglio first traveled in Israel in 1973, just as the Yom Kippur War broke out.

He spent six days confined by the conflict to his Jerusalem hotel, where he studied the Letters of Saint Paul to the Corinthians.

Both of the pontiff's immediate predecessors visited Israel - Benedict in 2009 and John Paul II in 2000.