ROMA (ITALPRESS) – Mehriban Aliyeva, First Vice-President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, made an official visit to the Vatican, “which further consolidates the excellent bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and the Holy See, in a framework of increasingly lively cultural, scientific and diplomatic cooperation, which has found expression in the busy agenda and in the numerous top-level meetings”.
On Thursday, October 16, at the Commodilla Park, the inauguration of the restoration works of the frescoes of the basilica ipogea dei Ss was held. Felice e Adautto e del cubicolo di Leone, two of the most important monuments of the Commodilla catacomb. The intervention, carried out with the support of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, follows the agreement signed on 4 March 2021 with the Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archaeology for the valorization of this important catacombal complex. The ceremony was attended by the President of the Commission, Monsignor Pasquale Iacobone, President Emeritus, Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, the Ambassador of Azerbaijan to the Holy See, Ilgar Mukhtarov, and the President of the eighth City of Rome, Amedeo Ciaccheri.
This intervention is a new stage of multiannual collaboration which, thanks to the support of the Foundation, has already allowed to restore the paintings of the Ss catacombs. Marcellino and Pietro ad duas lauros, as well as the collection of sarcophagi of the monumental complex of San Sebastiano outside the walls. Aliyeva took the opportunity to wish for the Jubilee Year and to thank for the warm welcome. The visit of the First Vice President continued to the Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls, in the presence of the Archpriest, Cardinal James Michael Harvey, where the works of safety were viewed and appreciated thanks to the support of the Foundation for the Jubilee 2025.
Following the First Vice-President and his delegation visited the Pediatric Hospital Child Jesus, received by President Prof. Tiziano Onesti, with whom, on 9 September 2025, was signed a Memorandum of Understanding which involved the Heydar Aliyev Foundation also the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Azerbaijan, to promote cooperation in the fields of pediatric specialist training, genetic diagnostics, and personalised medicine. The day of October 17 opened with the Audience granted by His Holiness Pope Leo XIV to the First Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva. The meeting provided information on the activities of the Catholic community in Azerbaijan, as well as on the preparatory work for the construction of the second Catholic Church in the capital of the country.
Pope Leo XIV drew attention to the long history of bilateral cooperation between the Vatican State and the Republic of Azerbaijan, expressing his gratitude to the First Vice-President for his commitment and President Ilham Aliyev for the granting of the ground for the building of the second Church. First Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva thanked the Pontiff, inviting him to visit Azerbaijan. Mehriban Aliyeva met with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State of the Holy See, accompanied by Archbishop Daniel Pacho, Secretary for the Multilateral Sector of the Section for Relations with States and International Organizations.
During the cordial talks in the Secretariat of State was expressed by both Parties satisfaction for the positive trend of good bilateral relations. Cardinal Parolin, who visited Azerbaijan in 2023 and 2024, on the occasion of the COP29, welcomed with particular appreciation the decision to erect a second Catholic Church in the Azerbaijani capital, as a sign of the attention that the country reserves to all religions, and congratulated on the progress made and commitment to achieving lasting peace in the region. At the Governorate of the State of Vatican City, the First Vice President was welcomed by Sister Raffaella Petrini, Secretary General, with whom he discussed the future prospects of collaboration in the fields of culture and restoration. A symbolic ceremony was held in the Vatican Gardens during which a pomegranate tree was planted, donated by Azerbaijan as a sign of friendship and dialogue between the two communities.
The delegation also visited the Basilica of St. Peter and the Vatican Apostolic Library, where it was able to admire the restored and digitized manuscripts thanks to the contributions of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation. The Vatican Library itself signed a Memorandum on September 10, which also included the Vatican Apostolic Archives and the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan, for joint research and digitization activities, the preservation of documents relating to the history of Azerbaijan in the Vatican archives, and the development of bibliographical and archival exhibitions and projects. The day, and the visit in general, ended with the official inauguration of the Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the Holy See, in via della Conciliazione, to which Cardinal Pietro Parolin took part.
The ambassador of Azerbaijan to the Holy See, Ilgar Mukhtarov, who welcomed the guests, is the first resident ambassador to cover the task, witnessing relationships between the increasingly intense parts and mutual trust and esteem, as he himself expressed during the ceremony. The visit of the First Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva in the Vatican represents “the solidity and depth of the partnership between Azerbaijan and the Holy See and brings the relations between the Parties to a new level of cooperation – continues the note –. Through the activities of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, which Mehriban Aliyeva has defined as continuing, the collaboration extends from the protection of archaeological and artistic heritage to scientific research, from cultural diplomacy to health solidarity, in a climate of dialogue and ever greater brotherhood.”.
– photos Heydar Aliyev Foundation –
(ITALPRESS).
