Pope Francis visits Baku for the first time

Pope Francis arrived in Baku today. He was welcomed by Yaqub Eyyubov, Azerbaijani first deputy prime minister and Khalaf Khalafov, deputy foreign minister, at the Heydar Aliyev International Airport, Trend reports.

Pope Francis will hold mass in the Catholic church in Baku and meetings with the Azerbaijani leadership, Chairman of the Caucasian Muslims Office Sheikhulislam Allahshukur Pashazade and representatives of other religious confessions as part of the visit, to be held under the slogan "We are all brothers".

As political scientist Rovshan Ibrahimov noted in an interview with Vestnik Kavkaza, Pope's visit to Azerbaijan is of symbolic and socio-cultural nature, not religious. "On the global level, by this visit Pope Francis sends a message to the world that we live on one planet, and in order to survive here, we must recognize each other and know each other, sharing and supporting the right of others to exist," the expert said.