The Salesians from Slovakia arrived in 2000 to practically implant the Gospel in the country. Today there is Prefecture Apostolic entrusted by the Holy See to the Salesian Congregation. It covers the entire country. The Salesians, the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, the Missionaries of Charity of Mother Teresa of Calcutta and a local diocesan priest help Bishop Vladimír Fekete, SDB, Prefect Apostolic, to ensure that the Catholic faith takes root and becomes Azerbaijani. Although initially the pastoral ministry was aimed mainly at foreigners in the country, in the last 23 years some locals have accepted Christ and become members of the Church.

During his visit, Fr Maravilla met individually with the seven Salesians active in the country, then with the entire community. He expressed great appreciation for the work done by the Salesians in laying the foundations of the local Church, including the effort to translate the liturgical texts into Azerbaijani. And he reiterated to them that the way forward for the Salesian presence would be to strengthen the Salesian community with Salesian missionaries from other countries, which would allow them to explore the possibility of starting another community.

During his courtesy visit to Bishop Fekete, the bishop stressed to Fr Maravilla that the situation has totally changed with respect to the origins. When the Salesians first arrived in Azerbaijan, twenty-three years ago, they were met with suspicion. Today, however, the government is very tolerant and this allows it to carry out the work of evangelisation. For his part, during the fraternal dialogue, the General Councillor for the Missions suggested to the Prefect Apostolic to explore the possibilities of starting other presences in other cities.

Although there are only about 300 Catholics, two Popes have visited Azerbaijan in recent years. In 2002 St John Paul II visited Azerbaijan, when the ecclesial presence at the time was still a missio sui iuris entrusted to the Salesians; then, on 2 October 2016, Pope Francis also visited Baku. On that occasion, during the inter-religious meeting, the Pope told the leaders of the other religious communities in the country that they share the responsibility of helping people grow in faith, but also in tolerance for the faith of others.

“Everything we do here in Azerbaijan is first proclamation, particularly through witness of life and works of charity. Therefore, we must be credible, courageous and attractive witnesses of Jesus Christ", said Fr Maravilla to the Salesians with emotion and encouragement, during the Eucharistic celebration with the community that concluded his visit to the country.

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