Azernews.Az

By Gunay Hasanova

Peace and reconciliation will be the focus of Pope Francis’ first official visit to Azerbaijan and Georgia later this week, Vatican Radio reported.

Vatican spokesman Greg Burke announced about this on September 28 reminding that building interreligious dialogue has been one of the Pope’s top priorities since his election three years ago.

Observers say the Pope’s September 30-October 2 trip will be significant.

The Pope is scheduled to leave the Vatican on Friday morning, headed for the Georgian capital Tbilisi. On October 1, Pope Francis will head to Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan where he’ll celebrate Mass for the tiny Catholic community at the only parish church run by the Salesian order.

During his visit to Baku, Pope Francis will meet the Azerbaijani President, Chairman of the caucasus muslims office Sheikhulislam Allahshukur Pashazade, as well as representatives of other religious communities. Pope Francis will end his visit to Azerbaijan on October 2.

Earlier, Ordinary for the Roman Catholic Church in Azerbaijan Vladimir Fekete said that the relations between Azerbaijan Vatican are very warm, adding that the activities of Azerbaijan on the reconstruction of Vatican contributed to the development of their relations.

The opening ceremony of the restoration of Vatican catacombs of Saint Marcellino and Pietro initiated by Heydar Aliyev Foundation took place on February 23.

The restoration process of the Holy Roman catacombs is carried out on the basis of a bilateral agreement signed in 2012 between Heydar Aliyev Foundation and Holy See.

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