Azeri president calls Pope's visit "very important"

The Azerbaijani president has described the visit of Pope Francis I as "very important" for the bilateral relations and dialogue among civilizations, the Azeri APA news agency on 2 October.


Following an official welcoming ceremony in Azerbaijani capital Baku, President Ilham Aliyev thanked the Pope for his visit, calling it "historic".


"Your visit to Azerbaijan is of great importance for Vatican-Azerbaijani relations, as well as for dialogue between civilisations," the president said.


"Representatives of all religions live in Azerbaijan as one family, in the environment of peace and friendship," APA cited Aliyev as saying.


For his part, the Pope said: "I know that all freedoms have been provided in your country" and added that "spiritual and cultural values are of great importance in this period, particularly in European countries".


He also said that "I would like conflicts in the Caucasus region to be resolved through dialogue and talks with the help of God", APA reported.


The Pope's trip began with the visit of a catholic church in Baku on the morning of 2 October, where he addressed about 300 worshippers.


During the speech, he called on people to strengthen their faith, and said that "someone may consider my visit to Azerbaijan for 600-700 devout people to be waste of time".


"However, this is not society with one nation and one religion," he added.


According to APA, it is also scheduled that Pope Francis will meet the chairman of the Azerbaijan-based Caucasus Board of Muslims Allahsukur Pasazada and representatives of other religions.


The Pope arrived in Baku from Tbilisi for a one-day visit.

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