Azerbaijan and the Holy See: Bridging cultures, faiths, and global values Overview by Teymur Atayev

How unique Azerbaijan is! And how truly exceptional! This is particularly evident not only against the backdrop of the ongoing global geopolitical turbulence but also in light of the persistent attempts by certain vested interests to implant the idea in the global consciousness of an almost inevitable “clash of civilisations.”

A clear confirmation of Azerbaijan’s distinctiveness was the recent meetings of the First Vice-President of Azerbaijan and Chair of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, Mehriban Aliyeva, during her official visit to the Vatican.

A particularly significant moment was her audience with Pope Leo XIV, during which Mehriban Aliyeva highlighted the wide-ranging activities of the Foundation in collaboration with the Holy See in the fields of restoration, scholarly research, and cultural exchanges. She also announced new initiatives aimed at further expanding cooperation between Baku and the Vatican.

Pope Leo XIV, expressing his gratitude to the First Vice-President and the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, emphasised that the established mutual understanding had given a strong impetus to interreligious and intercivilizational dialogue, in which Azerbaijan holds one of the leading positions worldwide.

For many years, with the support of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, religious monuments of great historical significance in the Vatican and Rome have been restored. Notably, the Catacombs of Saints Marcellinus and Peter have been renovated. A new museum has been created in the Basilica of Saint Sebastian to house the restored sarcophagi. In St. Peter’s Basilica, the bas-relief “Meeting of Pope Leo I and the Hunnic Emperor Attila” has been restored.

During this visit, Mehriban Aliyeva, together with her family members, also participated in the inauguration ceremony of the restoration project of the Catacombs of Saint Commodilla.

Mehriban Aliyeva also visited Europe’s largest pediatric hospital, Bambino Gesù, with which the Heydar Aliyev Foundation had previously signed a Memorandum of Understanding. Thanks to this agreement, Bambino Gesù contributes significantly to the treatment of rare diseases, the development of molecular genetics, clinical diagnostics, and other relevant fields in Azerbaijan.

On 17 October, the official opening of the administrative office of the Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the Holy See took place. The event was attended by Azerbaijan’s First Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva and Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin.

Ambassador of Azerbaijan to the Holy See, Ilgar Mukhtarov, provided information about the administrative office. It was noted that the embassy office is located on Via della Conciliazione—the main street leading to St. Peter’s Basilica—very close to the Apostolic Palace of the Vatican. It was emphasised that in recent years, relations between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Holy See have been steadily developing in the spirit of mutual interests, respect, and fruitful cooperation, and that this interaction is becoming increasingly deep and multifaceted.

Later, Mehriban Aliyeva and Pietro Parolin, seated at a tea table, exchanged views on bilateral relations, international affairs, and other topics of mutual interest.

It should be recalled that in 2021, President Ilham Aliyev signed the law establishing the Embassy of Azerbaijan to the Holy See. In 2022, Ilgar Mukhtarov was appointed as Azerbaijan’s first resident ambassador to the Holy See.

It is also worth noting that the foundation of this special aura in relations between Baku and the Vatican was laid by National Leader Heydar Aliyev.

On the eve of his official visit to the Vatican in 1997, Heydar Aliyev emphasised the need to establish bilateral relations with a shared goal: to present the realities of Azerbaijan to the world, to develop connections between Azerbaijan and other countries across all fields, and to engage the international community in the peaceful resolution of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict.

During their conversation, Pope John Paul II called Heydar Aliyev an outstanding statesman and noted that under his leadership, Azerbaijan had earned a respected place in the international community. The head of the Catholic Church particularly highlighted the importance of safeguarding the territorial integrity of countries that had recently regained independence, stating that “we must fight separatism together.”

In 2002, John Paul II visited Baku, where he heard from Heydar Aliyev that Azerbaijan had long been a place of interaction and dialogue among religions, languages, and cultures, and that Catholics, like members of other religious communities, had always felt respect and esteem in Azerbaijan.

Three years later, the Vatican was officially visited by President Ilham Aliyev, and in 2008, a ceremony was held in Baku for the opening of the Catholic Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Four years later, Azerbaijani exhibitions were displayed in the Vatican Museums—the first exhibition by a Muslim-majority country in the history of the Holy See.

During his apostolic visit to Baku in 2016, under the motto “We Are All Brothers,” Pope Francis noted that against the backdrop of numerous global conflicts driven by intolerance and ideologies of violence, Azerbaijan’s path was made possible thanks to a society that embraced multiculturalism and the complementarity of cultures.

In 2020, President Ilham Aliyev and First Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva met with Pope Francis at the Vatican. The head of the Roman Catholic Church emphasised that he would never forget the restoration projects carried out by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation. During the visit, Mehriban Aliyeva was awarded one of the highest papal knighthood orders—the Grand Cross of the Order of Pius IX.

In 2024, an agreement was signed between the Vatican City State Governorate and the Heydar Aliyev Foundation for the restoration of the Basilica of Saint Paul—a major Vatican monument included on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1980.

In the same year, a ceremony was held in Baku to consecrate the site where, under the direction of President Ilham Aliyev and with the support of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, a new Catholic church will be built in honour of Saint John Paul II.

At the beginning of 2025, during the traditional annual meeting organised for the heads of the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See, Pope Francis reminded participants that at COP29 in Baku, decisions had been made to allocate increased financial resources for climate initiatives.

In May of this year, President Aliyev congratulated Leo XIV on his election as Pope, expressing confidence in the successful continuation of fruitful cooperation between Baku and the Holy See for the promotion of universal human values and the strengthening of mutual understanding and trust among civilisations.

Also in the spring of this year, the XII International Scientific Conference dedicated to the heritage of Caucasian Albania was held at the Pontifical Gregorian University in the Vatican.

In the summer of 2025, a Memorandum of Understanding on interreligious dialogue was signed between the State Committee of Azerbaijan for Work with Religious Organisations and the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue of the Holy See.

An important demonstration of mutual trust and respect was also the fact that Azerbaijani researchers were granted access to work in the Vatican’s secret archives. It is also noteworthy that one of the copies of the ancient Azerbaijani epic, the Book of Dede Korkut, is preserved in the Vatican Library.

All these facts speak for themselves. The steps taken by Baku in the cultural and humanitarian sphere are fully aligned with the country’s political initiatives. Moreover, Mehriban Aliyeva’s visit to the Vatican seamlessly complemented Azerbaijan’s broad spectrum of foreign policy priorities—including the active participation and keynote addresses of President Ilham Aliyev at the 80th session of the UN General Assembly, the 7th Summit of the European Political Community, the 12th CSTO Summit, the Peace Summit in Egypt, and other major international forums.

The cultural and humanitarian bridges being built by Baku do more than complement Azerbaijan’s political and economic strategy on the global stage; they constitute an independent and crucial dimension of the country’s foreign policy. At a time when the world is experiencing both a moral and geopolitical crisis, Azerbaijan—a victorious state—consistently promotes the principles of peace, intercivilizational dialogue, mutual assistance, and respect in the international arena.

Azerbaijan is confidently emerging as one of the key actors in global geopolitics, advancing the ideals of peace—a trend that is more relevant and urgently needed than ever in today’s world.

In this context, special significance is attached to the point made by President Ilham Aliyev in his address to participants of the 4th session of the Asian Council on Culture at the International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP) on the theme “From National Diversity to Global Solidarity: The Role of Culture in the New World Order.” The head of state noted that, against the backdrop of armed conflicts and other contemporary upheavals, culture becomes an indispensable factor uniting people and societies around the highest human values—a vital instrument for maintaining global stability.

Ilham Aliyev also emphasised the importance of promoting harmonious relations between different cultures on the international stage through Azerbaijan’s continuous initiatives based on intercivilizational dialogue.

It is clear that, in the context outlined by the national leader, the relationship between Azerbaijan and the Holy See takes on a particularly meaningful form, demonstrating a clear tendency toward further development.