Construction site of new Catholic church consecrated in Baku

A Catholic church in honor of St. John Paul II will be built in the capital of Azerbaijan by order of President Ilham Aliyev with the support of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and by order of the Baku City Executive Power. The ceremony of consecration of the territory allocated for this purpose was held by the Secretary of the Holy See for Relations with States and International Organizations, Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher the day before.

During the ceremony, Deputy Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Fariz Rzayev noted that the relations between Azerbaijan and the Holy See, based on friendship and close cooperation, are actively developing. He recalled the visits of national leader Heydar Aliyev and the country's president Ilham Aliyev to the Vatican, as well as Pope John Paul II and Pope Francis' visits to Baku, which gave great impetus to achieving the current level of relations between the two countries, Sputnik Azerbaijan reports.

"We attach particular importance to our active and effective cooperation in preserving the values ​​of intercultural and interreligious dialogue. In Azerbaijan people of various religions and beliefs have lived together in harmony and mutual respect for centuries. The participation of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation in the restoration of historical sites of the Vatican further develops our cooperation and contributes to the preservation of global cultural heritage and the development of intercultural dialogue",

Fariz Rzayev said.

Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher familiarized himself with the church project and expressed deep gratitude to the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and the Heydar Aliyev Foundation for the construction of the church. He noted that it would become an eternal symbol of the strong friendship between the Holy See and Azerbaijan.

The Archbishop also reaffirmed the Holy See's commitment to strengthening ties with Azerbaijan and promoting such spiritual values ​​as peace and justice.

The church will be built on a ​​0.17 hectare-site located on Abbas Mirza Sharifzade Street in the Yasamal district of the city.