ANNIVERSARY EVENTS HAVE STARTED IN THE APOSTOLİC PREFECTURE OF AZERBAIJAN

For the Catholic community in Azerbaijan, the year 2025 is marked by several significant dates and events. First and foremost, the country’s Catholics are living this year in the spirit of the Jubilee of Hope, celebrated throughout the Universal Church.

In 2025, the local community also celebrates the 25th anniversary of the revival of the Catholic Church in Azerbaijan as “missio sui iuris” and the 25th anniversary of the beginning of the mission of the Society of St. Francis de Sales (Salesian Order) in the country.

To mark the mission’s anniversary, Father Peter Timko, Provincial of the Salesian Order of Slovakia, Fathers Daniel Pravda and Jan Čapla, who both headed the “missio sui iuris” in Azerbaijan in previous years, priests, religious, and volunteers of the Salesian Order, who at various times participated in the revival of Catholic ecclesiastical structures in the country, arrived in Azerbaijan.

On October 18, on the feast of St. Luke the Evangelist, a Mass of thanksgiving was celebrated in the chapel of St. John Paul II Parish in Baku, presided by Father Peter Timko, Provincial of the Salesian Order of Slovakia.