(Vatican Radio) After having celebrated Mass on Sunday morning upon his arrival in Azerbaijan, Pope Francis met with the nation’s President, Ilham Heydar Aliyev in the Presidential Palace of Baku where he was received by the full Guard of Honor salute which is reserved for visiting dignitaries during the official Welcome Ceremony.
As per protocol, Pope Francis and President Aliyev then met for a private meeting behind closed doors.
President Ilham Aliyev, the fourth President of Azerbaijan, has been in office since 2003. He also functions as the Chairman of the New Azerbaijan Party and the head of the National Olympic Committee. Ilham Aliyev is the son of Heydar Aliyev, who was President of Azerbaijan from 1993 to 2003.
Pope Francis has many engagements on this final day of his 16th Apostolic Journey which has taken him to Georgia and to Azerbaijan. After meeting with the President, he paid a visit to the Baku Monument for the Victims Fallen in the Battle for Independence. Pope Saint John Paul II visited this site when he travelled to Azerbaijan in May 2002 .
Here the Pope participated in a ceremony which saw the laying of a wreath in the presence of the Major of Baku.
The monument is known as the ‘Alley of Martyrs’ and it is situated on one of the highest hills in Baku overlooking the Caspian Sea.
A long marble wall stretches the length of the memorial, with a portrait of each martyr standing above the tombstone and grave of their final resting place. Hundreds of the Azeris who lost their lives in the Karabakh hostilities and the events of Black January lie in repose, and an eternal flame underneath a large dome stands adjacent to the wall.
Just across the street from the memorial’s location is the Parliament building – thus the cemetery serves as a constant reminder to the nation’s leaders and policymakers of the immense sacrifices that earlier generations made in order to secure the nation’s freedom.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) After celebrating Mass in Baku’s Church of the Immaculate Conception, the city’s Salesian centre, Pope Francis encouraged Azerbaijan’s small Catholic community in their witness of the faith, before leading the faithful in the Angelus prayer.
In off-the-cuff remarks delivered after his prepared Angelus address , the Pope stressed that he is not “wasting time” travelling long distances to visit such a small community of Catholics in Azerbaijan and explained why it is so important for him to travel to these nations “on the peripheries.”
Please see below an English translation of the Pope’s off-the-cuff remarks:
Someone may think that the Pope wastes so much time: travelling so many kilometres to visit a small community of 700 people, in a country of 2 million. Yet it is a community which is not uniform, because among you there are several languages spoken: Azeri, Italian, Spanish… many languages. It is a community on the peripheries. But the Pope, in this, imitates the Holy Spirit: he also descended from heaven to a small community in that closed periphery of the Cenacle. And to that community, which was fearful, felt poor and perhaps persecuted or rejected, the Holy Spirit imparts fortitude, power, and bold eloquence to go forth and proclaim the name of Jesus! And the doors of that community in Jerusalem, which were closed for fear or shame, were thrust wide open releasing the power of the Spirit. The Pope wastes time as the Holy Spirit did in those days!
Only two things are necessary: Mary was among that community. Don’t forget our Mother! And in that community resided charity, a fraternal love, which the Holy Spirit poured into their hearts. Have courage! Go ahead! Without fear, go ahead!
Below, see the official English language translation of Pope Francis’ prepared remarks for the Angelus:
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
In this Eucharistic celebration I have given thanks to God with you, and also for you: here the faith, after the years of persecution, has accomplished wonders. I wish to recall the many courageous Christians who trusted in the Lord and were faithful in the face of adversity. As did Saint John Paul II, I offer you the words of the Apostle Peter: “Honour to you who believe” ( 1 Pt 2:7; Homily , Baku, 23 May 2002).
Our thoughts turn now to the Virgin Mary, who is venerated in this country not only by Christians. To her we address the words of the Angel Gabriel who brought her the good news of salvation, prepared for humanity by God.
In the light that radiates from the maternal gaze of Mary, I offer a warm greeting to you, dear faithful of Azerbaijan, as I encourage each of you to witness joyfully to faith, hope and love, united among yourselves and with your Pastors. I greet and thank in a particular way the Salesian family, who take such good care of you and who promote various good works, and the Missionary Sisters of Charity: continue with enthusiasm your work in the service of all!
Let us entrust these intentions to the intercession of the Most Holy Mother of God and let us invoke her protection upon your families, the sick and the elderly, and upon all those who suffer in body or spirit.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis celebrated Mass on Sunday at the Salesian centre in Baku, the central event of his 10-hour visit to Azerbaijan.
The Pope’s homily, delivered to the congregation gathered in the Church of the Immaculate Conception, centred on the Lord’s call for Christian’s to live in faith and in service.
Below, please find the official English language translation of Pope Francis’ prepared homily:
Homily of His Holiness Pope Francis
Holy Mass, Baku, Church of the Immaculate Conception
2 October 2016
The word of God presents us today with two essential aspects of the Christian life: faith and service . With regard to faith, two specific requests are made to the Lord.
The first is made by the Prophet Habakkuk, who implores God to intervene in order to re-establish the justice and peace which men have shattered by violence, quarrels and disputes: “O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear?” ( Hab 1:2), pleads the Prophet. God, in response, does not intervene directly, does not resolve the situation in an abrupt way, does not make himself present by a show of force. Rather, he invites patient waiting, without ever losing hope; above all, he emphasizes the importance of faith, since it is by faith that man will live (cf. Hab 2:4). God treats us in the same way: he does not indulge our desire to immediately and repeatedly change the world and other people. Instead, he intends primarily to heal the heart, my heart, your heart, and the heart of each person; God changes the world by transforming our hearts, and this he cannot do without us. The Lord wants us to open the door of our hearts, in order to enter into our lives. This act of opening to him, this trust in him is precisely “the victory that overcomes the world, our faith” ( 1 Jn 5:4). For when God finds an open and trusting heart, then he can work wonders there.
But to have faith, a lively faith, is not easy; and so we pass to the second request, which the Apostles bring to the Lord in the Gospel: “Increase our faith!” ( Lk 17:6). It is a good question, a prayer which we too can direct to the Lord each day. But the divine response is surprising and here too turns the question around: “If you had faith…”. It is the Lord who asks us to have faith. Because faith, which is always God’s gift and always to be asked for, must be nurtured by us. It is no magic power which comes down from heaven, it is not a “talent” which is given once and for all, not a special force for solving life’s problems. A faith useful for satisfying our needs would be a selfish one, centred entirely on ourselves. Faith must not be confused with well-being or feeling well, with having consolation in our heart that gives us inner peace. Faith is the golden thread which binds us to the Lord, the pure joy of being with him, united to him; it is a gift that lasts our whole life, but bears fruit only if we play our part.
And what is our part? Jesus helps us understand that it consists of service . In the Gospel, immediately following his words on the power of faith, Jesus speaks of service. Faith and service cannot be separated; on the contrary, they are intimately linked, interwoven with each other. In order to explain this, I would like to take an image very familiar to you, that of a beautiful carpet. Your carpets are true works of art and have an ancient heritage. The Christian life that each of you has, also comes from afar. It is a gift we received in the Church which comes from the heart of God our Father, who wishes to make each of us a masterpiece of creation and of history. Every carpet, and you know this well, must be made according to a weft and a warp; only with this form can the carpet be harmoniously woven. So too in the Christian life: every day it must be woven patiently, intertwining a precise weft and warp: the weft of faith and the warp of service . When faith is interwoven with service, the heart remains open and youthful, and it expands in the process of doing good. Thus faith, as Jesus tells us in the Gospel, becomes powerful and accomplishes marvellous deeds. If faith follows this path, it matures and grows in strength, but only when it is joined to service.
But what is service? We might think that it consists only in being faithful to our duties or carrying out some good action. For Jesus it is much more. In today’s Gospel, and in very firm and radical terms, he asks us for complete availability, a life offered in complete openness, free of calculation and gain. Why is he so exacting? Because he loved us in this way, making himself our servant “to the end” ( Jn 13:1), coming “to serve, and to give his life” ( Mk 10:45). And this takes place again every time we celebrate the Eucharist: the Lord comes among us, and as much as we intend to serve him and love him, it is always he who precedes us, serving us and loving us more than we can imagine or deserve. He gives us his very own life. He invites us to imitate him, saying: “If anyone serves me, he must follow me” ( Jn 12:26).
And so, we are not called to serve merely in order to receive a reward, but rather to imitate God, who made himself a servant for our love. Nor are we called to serve only now and again, but to live in serving . Service is thus a way of life; indeed it recapitulates the entire Christian way of life: serving God in adoration and prayer; being open and available; loving our neighbour with practical deeds; passionately working for the common good.
For Christians too, there are temptations which lead us away from the path of service and end up by rendering life pointless. Here too we can identify two forms. One is that of allowing our hearts to grow lukewarm . A lukewarm heart becomes self-absorbed in lazy living and it stifles the fire of love. The lukewarm person lives to satisfy his or her own convenience, which is never enough, and in that way is never satisfied; gradually such a Christian ends up being content with a mediocre life. The lukewarm person allocates to God and others a “percentage” of their time and their own heart, never spending too much, but rather always trying to economize. And so, he or she can lose the zest for life: rather like a cup of truly fine tea, which is unbearable to taste when it gets cold. I am sure, however, that when you look to the example of those who have gone before you in faith, you will not let your hearts become lukewarm. The whole Church, in showing you special affection, looks to you and offers you encouragement: you are a little flock that is so precious in God’s eyes.
There is a second temptation, which we can fall into not so much because we are passive, but because we are “overactive”: the one of thinking like masters , of giving oneself only in order to gain something or become someone. In such cases service becomes a means and not an end, because the end has become prestige; and then comes power, the desire to be great. “It shall not be so among you”, Jesus reminds all of us, “but whoever would be great among you must be your servant” ( Mt 20:26). This is the way the Church grows and is adorned. Returning to our image of the carpet, and applying it to your fine community: each of you is like a magnificent silk thread. Only if you are woven together, however, will the different threads form a beautiful composition; on their own, they are of no use. Stay united always, living humbly in charity and joy; the Lord, who creates harmony from differences, will protect you.
May we be aided by the intercession of the Immaculate Virgin Mary and by the saints, especially Saint Teresa of Calcutta, the fruits of whose faith and service are in your midst. Let us recall some of her noble words to summarize today’s message: “The fruit of faith is love. The fruit of love is service. The fruit of service is peace” ( A Simple Path , Introduction).
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis’ final engagement on Saturday in Georgia was a visit to the Svietyskhoveli Patriarchal Cathedral in the ancient capital of Mtskheta , the seat of the Orthodox Church of Georgia.
In his address, the Pope spoke of Christian identity which, he said, “is maintained when deeply rooted in faith, and also when it is open and ready, never rigid or closed. ”Reminding we are called to be “One in Jesus Christ,” the Pope said we must avoid “putting first disharmony and divisions between the baptized” and urged Christians to avoid “giving in to closed ways of thinking which darken life.”
Please find below an English translation of the Pope’s address at the Svietyskhoveli Patriarchal Cathedral in Mtskheta:
Address of His Holiness Pope Francis
Visit to the Svietyskhoveli Patriarchal Cathedral
Mtskheta, 1 October 2016
Your Holiness,
Mr Prime Minister,
Distinguished Authorities and Members of the Diplomatic Corps,
Dear Brother Bishops and Priests,
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
At the end of my pilgrimage to Georgia, I thank God for the opportunity to spend prayerful time in this holy temple. I wish to express my heartfelt gratitude for the welcome I have received, for your moving witness of faith, for the goodness of the Georgian people. Your Holiness, the words of the psalmist come to mind: “Behold how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! It is like the precious oil upon the head” (Ps 133:1-2). Dear Brother, the Lord has granted us the joy of meeting one another and of exchanging a holy kiss; may he pour out upon us the fragrant balm of concord and bestow his abundant blessings upon our path, and on the path of this beloved people.
The Georgian language is rich in meaningful expressions which describe fraternity, friendship and closeness among people. There is one expression, both noble and genuine, which evokes a readiness to exchange places with another, the will to bear their burden, the desire to say wholeheartedly, “I wish to be in your place” (shen genatsvale). Sharing the joys and sorrows in the communion of prayer and in the union of souls, and carrying each other’s burdens (cf. Gal 6:2): may this fraternal attitude mark the way ahead for our journey together.
This magnificent Cathedral, which houses so many treasures of faith and history, invites us to remember the past. This is more necessary than ever, as “a people’s fall begins where its memory of the past ends” (Ilia Chavchavadze, “People and History”, in Iveria, 1888). The history of Georgia is like an ancient book that, with each page, relates holy testimonies and Christian values which have forged the soul and culture of the country. This esteemed book, no less so, speaks to us of deeds of great openness, welcome and integration. These are most precious and enduring values, both for this land and the entire region. Such values express the Christian identity, which is maintained when deeply rooted in faith, and also when it is open and ready, never rigid or closed.
The Christian message – as this holy place recalls – has for centuries been the pillar of Georgian identity: it has given stability through so many upheavals, even when, sadly not infrequently, the fate of the nation was bitterly left to fend for itself. But the Lord never abandoned the beloved land of Georgia, because he is “faithful in all his words and loving in all his deeds; he upholds all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down” (Ps 145:13-14).
The Lord’s tender and compassionate closeness is especially represented here in the sign of the sacred tunic. The mystery of the tunic, “without seam, woven from top to bottom” (Jn 19:23), has attracted the attention of Christians from the beginning. One of the early Church Fathers, Saint Cyprian of Carthage, declared that in the undivided tunic of Jesus there appears that “bond of concord inseparably cohering”, that “unity which comes from above, that is, from heaven and from the Father, which could not be definitively rent” (De Catholicae Ecclesiae Unitate, 7: SCh 1 [2006], 193). The holy tunic, a mystery of unity, exhorts us to feel deep pain over the historical divisions which have arisen among Christians: these are the true and real lacerations that wound the Lord’s flesh. At the same time, however, “that unity which comes from above”, the love of Christ which has brought us together, giving us not only his garment but his very body, urge us to not give up but rather to offer ourselves as he did (cf. Rom 12:1): they urge us to sincere charity and to mutual understanding, to bind up wounds, with a spirit of pure Christian fraternity. Naturally, all this requires patience nurtured through trusting others and through humility, without fear and discouragement, but rather rejoicing in the certainty which Christian hope allows us to enjoy. This gives us the incentive to believe that differences can be healed and obstacles removed; it invites us never to miss opportunities for encounter and dialogue, and to protect and together improve what already exists. I am thinking, for example, of the current dialogue of the International Joint Commission and other propitious occasions for exchange.
Saint Cyprian stated also that Christ’s tunic – “one, undivided, all in one piece, indicates the inseparable concord of our people, of us who have been clothed in Christ” (De Cath., 195). Those baptized in Christ, as Saint Paul teaches, have been clothed in Christ (cf. Gal 3:27). Thus, notwithstanding our limitations and quite apart from all successive cultural and historical distinctions, we are called to be “one in Christ Jesus” (Gal 3:28) and to avoid putting first disharmony and divisions between the baptized, because what unites us is much more than what divides us.
In this Patriarchal Cathedral, many of our brothers and sisters receive Baptism, which in the Georgian language, beautifully expresses the new life received in Christ, evoking the light which gives meaning to everything, as it leads out of the darkness. In Georgian, the word “education” comes from the same root, and thus relates strictly to Baptism. The elegance of the language helps us think of the beauty of Christian life that, from its radiant beginnings, is maintained when it remains in the light of goodness, and when it rejects the darkness of evil. Such beauty of the Christian life is preserved when, by guarding faithfulness to its own roots, it does not give in to closed ways of thinking which darken life, but rather remains well-disposed to welcome and to learn, to be enlightened by all that is beautiful and true. May the resplendent riches of this people be known and esteemed! May we always increasingly share the treasures that God gives to each person, for our mutual enrichment, and to help one another grow in what is good!
I sincerely assure you of my prayers, so that the Lord, who makes all things new (cf. Rev 21:5), through the intercession of the Holy Brothers and Apostles Peter and Andrew, of the Martyrs and of all the Saints, may deepen the love between all believers in Christ and the enlightened pursuit of everything which brings us together, reconciles us and unites us. May fraternity and cooperation increase at every level! And may prayer and love make us ever more receptive to the Lord’s ardent desire, so that everyone who believes in Him, through the preaching of the Apostles, will “be one” (cf. Jn 17:20-21).
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis met Catholic charity workers in the Georgian capital and encouraged them in their work, saying “the poor and the weak are the ‘flesh of Christ’ who call upon Christians of every confession, urging them to act without personal interests, following only the prompting of the Holy Spirit.” The meeting took place in the grounds of the Camilliani health clinic in Tbilisi and was attended by its director and the head of Caritas Georgia . Also present were staff and volunteers working for various Catholic charitable organisations in Georgia as well as patients and medical staff from the Camilliani clinic.
Please find below an English translation of the Pope’s address to the charity workers in Tbilisi:
Greeting of His Holiness Pope Francis
Meeting with Volunteers and Assistants
Tbilisi, Camilliani Centre
1 October 2016
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
I greet you warmly and am pleased to meet all of you who are charity workers here in Georgia. Through your care, you express in an eloquent way love of neighbour which is the hallmark of Christ’s disciples. I thank Father Zurab for his words offered on your behalf. You represent a variety of charitable centres in the country: male and female religious institutes, Caritas, Church associations and other organizations, and groups of volunteers. To each one I offer my appreciation for your generous commitment to those most in need.
Your work is a journey of fraternal cooperation among the Christians of this country and the faithful of various rites. Our meeting in the name of evangelical charity is a witness to communion and a means of fostering the way of unity. I encourage you to pursue this demanding yet fruitful path: the poor and weak are the “flesh of Christ” who call upon Christians of every confession, urging them to act without personal interests, following only the prompting of the Holy Spirit.
I offer a special greeting to the elderly, the sick, the suffering and those assisting them from various charitable organizations. I am happy to be with you for a little while to offer you my encouragement: God never turns away; he is always close to you, ready to listen, to give you his strength in times of difficulty. You are the beloved of Jesus, who wished to identify himself with all who suffer, he himself having suffered in his passion. Charitable initiatives are the ripe fruit of a Church that serves, offers hope and shows forth God’s mercy. Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, your mission is a great one! Continue to live out charity in the Church and to manifest this charity in all areas of society with the zealous love that comes from God.
May the Blessed Virgin Mary, icon of gratuitous love, guide you and protect you. May the blessing of the Lord sustain you, which I now willingly invoke upon all of you.
(from Vatican Radio)…