BAKU, Azerbaijan, Nov. 13
Trend:
Representatives of all nations and religions have lived peacefully in a multicultural and multi-confessional country - Azerbaijan, for centuries, Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Culture told Trend.
“The large Christian community in Azerbaijan is an integral and active part of the country’s society, and their monuments, places of worship, and churches are fully protected by the Azerbaijani state and are regularly restored. It is no coincidence that during his visit to Azerbaijan in October 2016, Pope Francis assessed Azerbaijan as a model of religious tolerance for the whole world,” the ministry said.
The ministry noted that the assessment of material and cultural heritage, restoration, and reconstruction of historical and religious monuments, including churches and synagogues, are an integral part of the policy pursued by the Azerbaijani state in this area.
“Over the past 20 years, the Russian Orthodox Cathedral (Cathedral of the Holy Myrrh-Bearing Women), the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Savior, and the Russian Orthodox Church of Alexander Nevsky in Ganja have been repaired at the expense of the state. A religious and cultural center of the Baku and Azerbaijani dioceses were built. Thus, within the project of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation ‘Address of Tolerance – Azerbaijan’, the Albano-Udi Chotari Church in Gabala, the Orthodox Church in Baku were repaired, as well as the Church of St. Mary was built in Baku. In 2020, within the project of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, the Albanian Church of the Holy Virgin Mary in the village of Nij, Gabala district, was thoroughly restored. In the center of Baku, the Azerbaijani state restored and handed over for free use the Armenian Church,” said the message.
“Azerbaijan has contributed to the protection of the Christian heritage not only in the country but throughout the world. With the support of the state, the Catacombs of Saint Sebastian in the Vatican were restored. Also, within the ‘Bilateral agreement on the restoration of the Roman catacombs’, signed between the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and the Holy See, the catacombs of Saint Marcellin and Pietro in Rome were restored. Moreover, on the occasion of the 1025th anniversary of the baptism of Russia and the 455th anniversary of the founding of Astrakhan, by the initiative of President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and with the support of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, a monument to Prince Vladimir was erected on the square in front of the Church of Saint Vladimir,” said the ministry.
In addition, assistance was provided for the restoration of seven churches from the 10th to 12th centuries in the settlements of Santia, Fresne-au-Sauvay, Saint-Hilaire-la-Gerard, Tanville, Courjust, Revoyon, and Mal in the French department of Orne, the message said.
“In the liberated territories, along with Muslim monuments, the Christian heritage will be protected, restored, and handed over for use, regardless of its origin, at a high level,” added the ministry.
