Pope Benedict XVI's September 7-9 visit to Austria, his first to another European country in 2007, is a likely home-game for German-born Joseph Ratzinger.His hosting nation, deeply steeped in Catholic tradition for centuries, has worked for months to welcome the Holy Father in style.
Austrian church officials hope for a renewal of faith and some words of encouragement from him regarding their role in today's increasingly secular society.
Church officials in Rome, meanwhile, are looking forward to what they expect to be a relatively trouble-free papal visit following a series of papal slips during his previous trips abroad.
This spring, for instance, Benedict courted controversy with a remark on abortion while still on the plane taking him to Brazil.
Once there, he raised eyebrows by not speaking out strongly enough against the suffering caused to the indigenous populations of Latin America during the colonization era.
And Muslims the world over still remember his now famous university lecture in Regensburg, Germany, in the autumn of 2006, when he appeared to liken Islam to violence.
That controversy came only months before his fence-mending mission to Turkey.
The pope should be on far more familiar and safer ground in Austria, which the Vatican wants to continue viewing as a hub for central European Catholicism. And church officials in both Rome and Vienna are eager to bury recent sex scandals that have severely tarnished its image there.
Accusations against a former cardinal of having abused choir boys and a major sexual misconduct scandal at a seminary three years ago triggered widespread protests and a sharp decline in "church tax" payments among Austrians.
Meanwhile, the appointment of several controversial bishops, deemed too conservative or too polarizing, have added to the volatile mix. "After very difficult times, (there is) a great awakening among Austrian Catholics," Vienna Cardinal Christoph Schonborn recently told Vatican Radio.
Despite the controversies, Austria remains a strongly Catholic country - with religious festivals and traditions dominating the yearly calendar of events, especially in rural regions. More than 74 per cent of the population are estimated to ascribe to Roman Catholicism - the Vatican's slightly more conservative official estimate is of 72.7 per cent - Islam coming second with around 5 per cent, followed by Protestantism (4.6 per cent).
And yet, despite its strong Catholic affiliations, Benedict XVI is only the third pope officially to visit Austria in centuries. Pope Pius VI was in Austria for a whole month in 1782, then it took 200 years until John Paul II became the next pope to visit.
Apparently taking a shine to the alpine republic, John Paul came to Austria three times - in 1983, 1988 and 1998. A visit by so-called "antipope" John XXIII, one of three popes taking part in a 15th century schism, does not count.
During his three-day visit, the pope is scheduled to meet the congregation in Vienna, travel to a pilgrimage site to celebrate its 850th anniversary and visit a monastery near Vienna.
Keystone of the visit will be a September 8 pilgrimage to the basilica of Mariazell, where he will celebrate the 850th anniversary of the popular pilgrimage site.
After arriving in Vienna on mid-morning Friday, Benedict will lead prayers in the city centre before visiting the town's Holocaust memorial and meet with leaders of the local Jewish community.
Vienna's Chief Rabbi Paul Chaim Eisenberg regards the event as an "important encounter with great symbolic character."
Austria's Protestant community, however, has voiced their disappointment that the pope seems to have found no time in his busy schedule for a meeting with representatives from other religions.
Early on Saturday morning, the pope will travel to the mountain sanctuary of Mariazell, celebrating Holy Mass in the late morning and afternoon.
Some 40,000 pilgrims are expected to join him at the pilgrimage shrine to the Virgin Mary.
"The Holy Father will walk to the basilica, like every other pilgrim," Karl Schauer, Mariazell's father superior, promised ahead of the visit. Returning to Vienna, Sunday Mass will be held at history-laden St Stephen's cathedral.
A short visit to Heiligenkreuz monastery outside Vienna in the afternoon concludes the papal visit.
The pope's hosts have spent months in preparation, renovating buildings, and commissioning new vestments or monstrances.
In Mariazell, 29 million euros (39 million dollars) were invested in renovating the basilica and approximately 900,000 euros were spent for prettying up the town, hoping the papal visit will prove a stimulus for local businesses and tourism.
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