Vatican City, Mar 4, 2008 / 08:37 am
Despite no sign of negotiations emerging in the Armenian post-election dispute, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican Secretary of State, left this morning for the former Soviet country after delaying his departure by two days.
The cardinal’s itinerary will be altered to accommodate his shorter stay, but everything is on track for his March 6-9 visit to Azerbaijan.
During his stay in the neighboring country, Cardinal Bertone will meet Sheikh Allashukur Pashazade, head of Muslims in the Caucasus, and other religious leaders, to tell them of the Catholic Church's desire to collaborate in the joint commitment to peace, harmony between peoples and the good of the human family.
In Baku, Azerbaijan’s capital city, “Cardinal Bertone will attend the inauguration of a new Catholic church built on land donated to Servant of God John Paul II by President Heydar Aliyev, father of the current head of State,” the Vatican’s press office reports.