Stuttgart, Germany - Up to a million pilgrims are expected in Cologne this week as Pope Benedict travels to his homeland to celebrate World Youth Day on his first international trip since becoming head of the Catholic church.
Despite the usually empty pews in Germany's Catholic churches, Cologne has been gripped by religious fervour in anticipation of the Pope's visit.
Cafes are brimming with priests, nuns and monks, while youths roam the streets wearing T-shirts bearing the slogan "I love Jesus".
Even the city's sex shops have toned down for the occasion, with posters of women displaying only their face, neck and legs.
Organisers of the €100m (£68m) celebration are under pressure to show the Pope that Germany still believes. Germany "must send out the same image as was witnessed in April [following the death of Pope John Paul II] when the world's youth gathered in St Peter's Square. Cologne should be like a new Rome," the German magazine Der Spiegel says today.
Security is also high on the agenda. Following the London bombings, the decision to give every World Youth Day participant a backpack containing rosary beads, a prayer book and map has worried security experts.
About 4,000 police are to carry out random checks during the week-long event. A no-fly zone is being declared over Cologne and divers are to check the Rhine for underwater threats before the Pope embarks on a boat trip.
But organisers have also been at pains to ensure that the pilgrims are comfortable. More than 90,000 beds in private homes have been found; 12,000 mobile toilets are scattered across the diocese; and supplies including 900,000 bread rolls and 1.8m pieces of fruit are on offer.
Aware of the dwindling interest in Catholicism, the Pope is hoping to inject new life into the church in Europe. "The so-called traditional churches look like they are dying," he told priests at a talk last month. "There is no longer evidence for a need of God, even less of Christ."
But 78-year-old Pope Benedict may not equal the charisma of his predecessor. Germany's senior cardinal, Karl Lehmann of Mainz, said: "Every pope has his own personality and one should not expect a copy of Pope John Paul."