Pope pays flying visit to Azerbaijan… to delight of country’s 300 Catholics

Pope Francis has arrived in Azerbaijan as he continues a swing through the Caucasus preaching tolerance and peace. He will meet representatives of all the main faiths as well as president Ilham Aliyev before heading back to Rome on Sunday night. His first stop was for an English-language mass at the small Catholic church built after St John Paul II visited Azerbaijan in 2002. Mr Aliyev donated the plot of land on the outskirts of the capital for church and Muslims and Jews helped build it. The church on Sunday was packed with faithful as the mass got under way.

I cannot contain my boundless joy. It is both joy and happiness that the faith gives me.

Parishioner Eva Agalarova, 61

The visit rounds off a weekend tour of the region which included a low-key visit to Georgia. There, he addressed a near-empty stadium in the capital, Tbilisi, after Orthodox Christian church leaders urged people to stay away. Azerbaijan is the second-largest Shiite Muslim nation after Iran and has fewer than 300 native Catholics alongside several thousand foreigners. After mass, priests were preparing a modest lunch for Francis of pasta and salmon and planned to give him a hand-woven carpet depicting the cathedral.

Islam is a tolerant religion and it accepts all faiths. I will welcome the pope’s visit if he is bringing a message of peace, calm and tolerance

Muslim Aygun Mikayilova

Europe