Program of the forthcoming visit of the Cardinal of Vatican Kreschenko Sepe to Baku on 10-12 September 2005 has been clarified. Ian Chapl, the head of the Catholic Church in Baku, said that the Cardinal will arrive in Baku on Saturday evening.
The visit program includes a tribute at the Cemetery of Martyrs and Heydar Aliyev’s tomb on Sunday morning, while in the noon he will participate in the stone laying ceremony of the first Catholic Church in Baku. The church for 200 visitors will be built at the expense of the private funds of Pope John Paul II, bained from sale of his books, as donations.
The same day Cardinal Sepe will hallow the orphanage in Nizami district of Baku and a catholic district. During the visit he also plans to meet with President Aliyev, the chairman of the Caucasus Clerical Board (CCB) and representatives from the religious confessions.
The number of catholic believers in Azerbaijan comprises 150 people. The same number of catholic believers of foreign nationality lives in the country, the same source said.