Azerbaijan reopens church ruined in Soviet times

Azerbaijan unveiled on Friday a new church for its tiny Catholic community, making good on a promise made to late Pope John Paul II to restore a parish ruined in Soviet times.

The Neo Gothic church is located just off the city centre of the capital Baku and bears the same name as the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, destroyed by the atheist authorities in the 1930s.

"The fact all the nations, representatives of all religions live as one family in Azerbaijan strengthens our country," Azeri President Ilham Aliyev said at the opening ceremony attended by the Vatican's Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone.

"In Azerbaijan there are conditions for the normal functioning of all confessions," Aliyev added.

Aliyev's father Haydar, the then leader of the oil-rich Caspian Sea state, granted land to rebuild the church during Pope John Paul II's visit to Azerbaijan in May 2002.

Mostly Muslim Azerbaijan, which has its own Catholic community of some 300 people and roughly the same number of foreigners preaching the faith, has a reputation of religious tolerance. There are also Orthodox Christians and Jews.