VATICAN CITY — Meeting with the Muslim, Orthodox and Jewish leaders of the Caucasian republic of Azerbaijan, Pope John Paul II warned Nov. 18 that religion must never become an instrument of intolerance or aggression.
John Paul called the inter-religious delegation — which was returning the visit he made to Azerbaijan in 2002 — a “symbol for the world” that “tolerance is possible and constitutes a value of civilization that poses the premise for a wider and more solid human, civil and social development.”
The 84-year-old Roman Catholic pontiff urged a final resolution of the conflict between predominantly Muslim Azerbaijan and the mainly Armenian Christian enclave of Nagorno-Karabagh.
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