The Palestinians have Bethlehem, Israel has Jerusalem and now Jordan is trying to get a slice of the pilgrimage business for 2000. The Jordanian authorities have aimed high with a new site they are excavating. Perhaps too high, as an unholy row has broken out over the Jordanian Minister of Tourism's claim to have uncovered the real site of Jesus's baptism, on a tributary 2 km from the Jordan river itself.
"I feel responsible for what has happened, for the minister's interpretation because I gave them the idea, but what they are doing now is against the liturgy, it's a swimming pool for baptism," says Father Piccirillo. Seated on the terrace of Mount Nebo Franciscan monastery overlooking the Dead Sea and Israel, 50 km from the disputed site, the Franciscan Father Piccirillo wrings his hands.
"In 1997, we established a royal commission to commemorate the baptism in the river, never on that site that they are developing now. This is a flight of fancy of the Minister of Tourism."
A photograph of Jordan's Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, Mr Aqel Biltaji, smiling as he shakes hands with the Pope, hangs on the wall of his office in Amman. He talks in a quiet and awed tone about Jordan's new-found Christian attraction.
"We looked at the year 2000 and we've added the birth of Christianity here in Jordan to the map of our religious products. From the holy point of view, we're entitled to bring out this site as the cradle of the church as much as Bethlehem is the birthplace of Jesus Christ."
Father Piccirillo points out that the Jordan river has changed course many times over the last 2,000 years and that the exact site of Christ's baptism can no longer be traced. "It's part of Christian mythology."
As well as being director of the Franciscan Archaeology Institute, Father Piccirillo lectures in biblical archaeology in Jerusalem and Rome, and he is a member of the Vatican Council of World Heritage: in short, he is Jordan's foremost expert on Christian sites.
The site called Bethany Beyond the Jordan is a 45-minute drive from Jordan's capital, Amman. So far, three pools, the remains of several churches and some mosaics have been found.
The director and tour guide of the site, Dr Mohammed Waheeb, does his best to look convincing as he gazes down into a muddy pool surrounded by lush palm and tamarind trees, Bible in hand. "All the descriptions fit the spring, really, this is the spring. John the Baptist lived here and waited for Jesus here. Then Jesus came and this is where the baptism happened."
A US Baptist preacher, Keith Summy is a frequent visitor. Under the shade of a shelter made from palm fronds, over a cup of tea, he gets into an argument with Dr Waheeb over the difference between biblical references to Jordan and the Jordan. Finally, he shakes his head. "This is a spring, a tributary. It's not the most likely site historically or biblically."
Several Jordanian newspapers have reported that the Vatican has given official approval to the site, quoting Mr Biltaji.
"The Vatican has inspected the site and there was no communique to say that this is not the baptismal site," Mr Biltaji said care fully. Mgr Coriakos, the Vatican's envoy to Jordan, dismisses this in disgust. "Well neither did we send out a communique confirming that it was the baptismal site."
Father Piccirillo is still part of the royal commission and attends meetings about the site's development with Mr Biltaji. He bristles when he talks about the minister. "Now he has gone too far and doesn't know how to back down, and he knows it."
Now that a $7 million development - to include a visitors' centre and desalination plant - is planned for Bethany Beyond the Jordan, Father Piccirillo knows that his aspiration for a pilgrimage site on the east bank of the Jordan river will never be realised.
"My idea was to turn the river into a symbol for peace instead of a border," he said. "Now that stupid man has spoiled it all. At least my idea was clever - to join both sides. With ideas like this, you should solve the problems of the Middle East, not by creating problems with Christian sites."