(MENAFN- Trend News Agency) BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 14. Azerbaijani
Ambassador to the Holy See Ilgar Mukhtarov presented his
credentials to Pope Francis, Head of the Roman Catholic Church,
trend reports.
Ambassador conveyed the greetings of the President of Azerbaijan
Ilham Aliyev and First Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva to Pope
Francis and invited the Pope to visit Azerbaijan. The ambassador
said that relations between Azerbaijan and the Holy See, based on
mutual respect, have gone a long way in development over a
thirty-year period.
Mukhtarov recalled the official visits of the President of
Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and First Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva
to the Holy See during this period, as well as the visit of Pope
Francis to Azerbaijan.
The opening of the Azerbaijani Embassy in the Holy See is an
indicator of the importance attached to bilateral relations, he
noted.
During the conversation, Pope Francis expressed gratitude for
the greetings and asked to convey greetings to President Ilham
Aliyev and First Vice President Mehriban Aliyeva. The Pope recalled
with satisfaction his visit to Azerbaijan in 2016 at the invitation
of President Ilham Aliyev and the meeting with representatives of
religious communities during the visit. He noted that he was warmly
welcomed in Azerbaijan, and the visit to Azerbaijan left him
pleasant impressions.
The head of the Roman Catholic Church inquired about the
situation in the region. He stressed that Azerbaijan attaches
particular importance to the traditions of multiculturalism and
tolerance, as well as the importance of the country's activities in
the direction of promoting interreligious and intercultural
dialogue.
Noting the effective cooperation between the Holy See and the
Heydar Aliyev Foundation, Pope Francis said that the restoration by
the Foundation of a number of historical monuments of universal
significance in the Vatican is a great job in the field of
protecting cultural heritage. It was noted that these projects
serve to protect the world cultural, historical and religious
heritage, the development of intercultural and interreligious
relations.
The ambassador, in turn, said that the projects implemented in
Vatican on the initiative of the First Vice-President of
Azerbaijan, President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Mehriban
Aliyeva, once again confirm the traditional role of Azerbaijan as a
country committed to multicultural values and promoting these
values.
Pope Francis asked the ambassador to convey sincere greetings
and best wishes to the people of Azerbaijan.
At the meeting of Ilgar Mukhtarov with the Secretary of State of
the Holy See, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, satisfaction was expressed
with the high level of cooperation between Azerbaijan and the
Vatican. The importance of these relations from the point of view
of intercivilizational and interreligious dialogue, as well as the
promotion of tolerance in the world, was emphasized. The Ambassador
recalled that Cardinal Pietro Paroli received an invitation to
visit Azerbaijan.
The Secretary of State of the Holy See asked the ambassador to
convey greetings to President Ilham Aliyev and First Vice-President
Mehriban Aliyeva and said that he would visit Azerbaijan this
year.