Catholic Church, Ruined in Soviet Times, Reopens in Azerbaijan

WASHINGTON, March 11 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Vatican's No. 2 official presided over the reopening of a Catholic church in Azerbaijan's capital city on Friday that had been shut down for more than 70 years under previous Soviet rule.

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, addressing the ceremony in Baku, said, "The fact that representatives of all religions live as one family in Azerbaijan strengthens our country."

In his remarks, the Vatican's Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, said the event was "rich in meaning" and "will leave its mark in the annals of history."

The reopening fulfills a promise made to the late Pope John Paul II and Azerbaijan's Catholic community by the late President Heydar Aliyev to restore the parish that had been ruined by Soviet atheist authorities in the 1930s.

The neo-Gothic church, the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is located near the center of the country's capital of Baku. The late President Heydar Aliyev granted land to rebuild the church during Pope John Paul II's visit to Azerbaijan in May 2002.

"It was the most eloquent welcome," Bertone said. "It was proof of this desire to make religious tolerance a true pillar of the life of Azerbaijan."

Azerbaijan, a secular country with a majority Muslim population, is known for its religious tolerance. The country is home to a Catholic community of hundreds of parishioners, as well as vibrant Orthodox Christian and Jewish communities.

Located at a key geographic crossroads between Europe and Asia along the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan has for centuries been a flow-point for civilizations passing between East and West, North and South. Tolerance and understanding of different religions and cultures have thus been woven into the fabric of society, something that was reflected in Bertone's words on Friday.

"Civilization rests on a rock that is concrete-the serene coexistence of different religions," he said.

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