A Catholic church will be built in Baku, while Armenian churches in Artsakh will continue to be destroyed

2024-12-20

The Vatican's Secretary for Relations with States, Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, visited Baku to participate in the groundbreaking ceremony for a church dedicated to Pope John Paul II.

In Baku, the Holy See official met with the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, and the Chairman of the Caucasian Muslims Office, Allahshukur Pashazade. During the meeting with the Archbishop, Pashazade discussed “Azerbaijan’s tolerance,” explaining how the government “restored and preserved the Armenian church in the center of Baku, as well as the ancient Albanian Apostolic churches in Nagorno-Karabakh and Shushai.” Pashazade also urged Gallagher to visit Artsakh to “familiarize himself with the work of restoring the religious and spiritual heritage in areas affected by cultural genocide.” According to information released by the Azerbaijani side, Gallagher also emphasized “Azerbaijan’s multiculturalism and tolerance.”

Due to his spiritual, educational, and professional activities, the senior Vatican official is likely familiar with the history and belonging of Artsakh’s religious and cultural heritage and may be aware of the “treatment” of Armenian cultural heritage by Azerbaijanis since 2020.

It remains unclear whether Vatican representatives have raised this issue in recent interactions with Azerbaijani officials, urging them not to demolish, destroy, or appropriate the rich heritage left by one of the ancient Christian nations, the Armenians. In any case, such information has not been mentioned in official statements.

The Geghard Foundation has repeatedly addressed this issue. Azerbaijan’s financial donations to Vatican should not lead the Catholic Church to turn a blind eye to Azerbaijani crimes. Vatican should not contribute to Azerbaijan’s consistent policy of altering the identity of Armenian heritage.

We believe that Vatican must condemn Azerbaijan’s policy of destroying and distorting Armenian religious and cultural heritage and should not become part of Azerbaijan’s propaganda campaign or the crimes committed by the authorities in Baku.

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