BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 10. The Chairman of the Caucasus Muslims Office, Sheikhulislam Allahshukur Pashazade, met with the Head of the Holy See and the Catholic Church, His Holiness Pope Leo XIV, in the Vatican on February 9, a source in the office told Trend.
The audience, which took place at the personal invitation of the pontiff, was attended by Pashazade and the leaders of religious confessions in Azerbaijan - Bishop Vladimir Fekete, Ordinary of the Apostolic Prefecture of the Roman Catholic Church in Azerbaijan, Milikh Yevdayev, Head of the Mountain Jewish Community in Azerbaijan, Robert Mobili, Chairman of the Alban-Udi Christian Religious Community, and Zamir Isayev, Head of the Baku Religious Community of Sephardic Jews.
Pope Leo XIV, who warmly welcomed the guests, highly appreciated the joint visit of religious confessions in Azerbaijan to the Vatican as the best example of the possibility of coexistence in an atmosphere of peace and human fraternity.
Pashazade expressed his great honor to convey the sincere greetings of President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, First Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva, and the people of Azerbaijan to Pope Leo XVI.
He emphasized the high level of Azerbaijan-Vatican relations, founded by National Leader Heydar Aliyev, continued by President Ilham Aliyev, and developed through the efforts of First Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva.
Pashazade also noted that the historic visit of the late Pope Francis to Azerbaijan, his meeting with the leaders of religious confessions in the country, and his kind words about the multicultural values and exemplary interfaith environment of the country are always in the people's memory.
The chairman expressed his satisfaction with the level of relations between the Vatican and the Caucasus Muslims Office in the field of interfaith cooperation, drawing attention to the importance of further deepening these relations, emphasizing that the establishment of the Caucasus Muslims Office representation in the Vatican can make a great contribution to this process.
