Pope Francis calls for peace during mass in Baku [UPDATE] [PHOTO]

2 October 2016 14:20 (UTC+04:00)

The religious ceremonies were held in the Catholic church in Baku as part of Pope Francis’s official visit to Azerbaijan October 2.

Pope Francis delivered a speech and quoted from the Bible following the religious ceremonies.

Pope Francis called on people to strengthen their faith.

"Faith is the golden thread which binds us to the Lord, the pure joy of being with him, united to him,” he said. “It is a gift that lasts our whole life but bears fruit only if we play our part."

While citing the words of St. Mary, Pope Francis left a message to Baku’s believers.

"The fruit of faith is love,” he said. “The fruit of love is service and the fruit of service is peace."

He said that faith and service can not be separated; on the contrary, they are intimately linked.

“In order to explain this, I would like to take am image very familiar to you, that of a beautiful carpet,” he said. “Your carpets are true works of art and have an ancient heritage. Every carpet, and you know this well, must be made according to a weft and a warp; only with this form can the carpet be harmoniously woven.”

Priests, religious people and those faithful to the Roman Catholic Church expressed gratitude to Pope Francis for his visit to Azerbaijan.
Ordinary of the Church of the Virgin Mary's Immaculate Conception (Roman Catholic Church) in Azerbaijan Vladimir Fekete read out a gratifying letter.
“Dear Holy Father, fourteen years ago, some of us have had the privilege to meet your predecessor, John Paul II in this city,” he said.
“This event was truly a miracle and up to now we are reaping the abundant spiritual fruits of that visit,” he said. “You, understand very well the meaning of words as discrimination, marginalization and poverty very well.”
“At the same time you are trying to tell to the world how change these words and these realities change into new words and realities: mercy, kindness, tolerance and all other synonyms of the word – charity,” he added.
“It is very significant for us that your visit takes place during the Jubilee Year of Mercy,” he said.

“Dear Holy Father, on behalf of the faithful, priests and religious of the Apostolic Prefecture in Azerbaijan, I express our gratitude and joy for your presence among us, for your words of encouragement, proclaimed during the homily and through your example of life, fully consecrated to the Kingdom of God,” he said.
“We ask you to continue to pray with us for reconciliation and peace in the Caucasus,” he added.