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.