‘I have headed the Catholic Church in Azerbaijan for over 14 years. Azerbaijan is a modern secular state that respects and encourages national traditions, spiritual and cultural diversity in society. I personally cannot grasp how a negative perception of religious freedom in Azerbaijan may have arisen. I truly believe that Azerbaijan deserves special attention as a rare example of good interaction among religious communities and a harmony between religion and secular government’, said Bishop Vladimir Fekete, the Apostle Prefect of the Catholic Church in Azerbaijan, to AzVision.az as he commented on the allegations of the US Department of State on limited religious freedom in Azerbaijan.
‘Heads and representatives of religious confessions in the country, including myself, often come together and participate in various international events on interreligious and intercultural dialogue. I advise everyone interested in these issues to visit Azerbaijan and personally see that despite all pessimistic forecasts on inter-civilizational and inter-religious dialogue, it is not only possible but also serves the prosperity of the society and state with good will of the society and competent state policy.
We, Catholics of Azerbaijan, are grateful to God that in this country we can freely practice our faith, solemnly celebrate our religious holidays, communicate with representatives of other religions in good faith and brotherhood and serve the prosperity of the Azerbaijani society to the best of our ability. We always feel the support of the Azerbaijani state, which never remains in words, but is shown through deeds, such as the financial assistance annually allocated to the religious communities in the country by Mr. President Ilham Aliyev. We have always been met with understanding and a desire to assist from the state authorities in all our needs.
In this regard, I would advise those, who make statements on restrictions of religious freedom in Azerbaijan, to personally come and talk to the religious communities here to see that quite the opposite is true for us’, the Bishop concluded.
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