Chronology of Catholic Dioceses:Notes on the Mission "sui iuris" of Baku, 2000
On 10 November 2000, the Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, created the Mission "sui iuris" of Baku (Republic of Azerbaijan), with territory taken from the Apostolic Administration of Caucasus of the Latins, entrusting it to the pastoral care of the Society of St Francis de Sales.
Azerbaijan is a republic in the south east of the Caucasus region, with an area of 86.600 sq km and a population of 7 million, while another thirteen million Azerbaijanis live abroad mostly in Iran, Russia and Georgia. Out of the three independent republics in the Caucasus region, Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan, the latter is the one with the best economic situation. Although it lost 20 percent of its territory (Nagorno-Karabakh) in a war with Armenia when the Soviet Union collapsed, Azerbaijan has vast oil reserves: about sixty American oil companies operate in Baku and Europeans are beginning to appear. The country, which unlike its neighbours has no penury of hydro-electric power, produces also oil products. Its health-care and education systems are the best in the region. The capital Baku gives the impression of a city which is poor but in full expansion. The main political problem is the war over Nagorno-Karabakh, where the people are mostly Armenian Christians, which declared itself an independent republic, but has only been recognised by Armenia.
Regarding the religious situation, Azerbaijan is different from the other two Republics Georgia and Armenia which are Christian, because its population is almost entirely Turkish and practicing Shiite Muslim. Slav Christian minorities are free to practice their Orthodox faith, and so are the Armenians. Before the Communist revolution Baku had a Catholic parish but the church was demolished in the 1950s and the last Catholic priest disappeared at the same time.
Since 1993 Catholics in Azerbaijan have made several requests for a resident priest in Baku, and there have been various attempts to engage members of a Religious Congregation. In July 1997 a young Polish priest, a member of the Neo Catechumen Way, Fr Jersy Pilus accepted to settle in Baku and he was soon joined by an American priest. When Fr Pilus arrived he found a Catholic community of thirty, mostly foreigners (diplomats, employees of international companies, technicians.) The law in Azerbaijan is quite tolerant towards religions, but nevertheless Fr Pilus encountered several problems. In the last few years Caritas Denmark has undertaken a number of humanitarian projects for refugees.
Fr Jozef Daniel Pravda SDB, first Superior of the Baku missio sui iuris was born at Blatne (Slovakia) on July 6, 1950. He made his first profession as a member of the Society of St Francis de Sales on August 15 1969 and his perpetual profession on August 15, 1978. He was ordained a priest at Bratislava in June 4, 1977. He has a Licentiate in Theology and has ministered in Belgium, Democratic Congo, Slovakia, Siberia. He speaks Czech (Bohemian), French, Italian, Russian and German.
(Source: Fides 24 Nov 2000)- CT