AZE.US
The Caucasus Muslims Office and the Holy See have signed a memorandum of understanding and agreed to establish a permanent joint committee on interreligious dialogue.
The document was signed at the Vatican on Oct. 26 by Caucasus Muslims Office Chairman Allahshukur Pashazade and Cardinal George Jacob Koovakad, prefect of the Holy See’s Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue.
The Caucasus Muslims Office described the agreement as the first memorandum of its kind concluded by the Vatican with a religious center, saying comparable documents had previously been signed mainly with government institutions.
Committee to Implement the Agreement
The permanent joint committee will oversee implementation of the memorandum and support interreligious cooperation. The office said the initiative was prepared with reference to the 2019 Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together.
The two sides agreed to prepare the memorandum during Koovakad’s June visit to Azerbaijan. Vatican News said that visit focused on tolerance, multiculturalism and continued cooperation between the Holy See and Azerbaijan.
The Vatican meeting also covered relations between Azerbaijan and the Holy See. Pashazade welcomed the opening of an apostolic nunciature, the Vatican’s diplomatic mission, in Azerbaijan and said construction of a Catholic church in Baku is expected to be completed in 2027.
Sources: Report, Vatican News.
AZE.US