Basilica of Saint Paul and Green Chapel are God's house equally. A story of a donation

On September 12, 2024, Fernando Vérgez Alzaga, the President of the Governorate of Vatican City State, and Anar Alakbarov, assistant to the President of Azerbaijan and president of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, signed an agreement to fund the restoration work of Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls.

The parties discussed the relations between Azerbaijan and the Holy See, as well as the joint projects with the Heydar Aliyev Foundation. The foundation has previously implemented several projects with Vatican. According to the Azerbaijani side, these projects have a special significance in the relations between Azerbaijan and Vatican, and also "make an important contribution to the development of interfaith and intercultural dialoge."

One should remind that at the end of July this year, Vatican's official newspaper "L'Osservatore Romano" published an article titled "A Khudavang, Ganjasar e Khatiravang Monasteri tra le nuvole" ("Dadivank, Gandzasar and Khatravank Monasteries in Clouds"), where these Armenian monuments were presented as Caucasian Albanian heritage.

It is hard to imagine that the projects funded by Azerbaijan in Vatican also include contributing to the propaganda of forcible appropriation of Armenian heritage in Artsakh and granting indulgence[1] to Baku. We are confident that Vatican is also aware of Azerbaijan's policy of destroying or Albanianization of Armenian cultural heritage in Artsakh, which is confirmed by numerous and irrefutable facts.

Vatican is the spiritual center for Catholic Christians, and the Pope is the spiritual leader of the Catholic world, endowed with political and moral authority and influence. Therefore, Vatican cannot remain indifferent to the rich heritage of Armenian Christian civilization, which is under serious threat due to the policy of Azerbaijan's dictatorial regime.

We hope that before accepting a donation from Azerbaijan, Vatican, faithful to Christian values and its high mission, will use its authority and demand that Azerbaijan not destroy or appropriate Armenian cultural heritage in the occupied Artsakh. We believe that Vatican will also contribute to the release of Armenian prisoners illegally held in Baku.

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