Pope Francis arrives in Azerbaijan after low-key Georgia visit

Pope Francis touched down in Azerbaijan’s capital Baku on Sunday (October 2) shortly after visiting nearby Georgia.

He was greeted at Baku airport by Azerbaijan First Deputy Prime Minister Yaqub Eyyubov and the rest of his delegation.

There are very few Roman Catholics in either Azerbaijan or Georgia. Approximately 95 percent of the Azerbaijan population is Muslim while over 80 percent of Georgians are Eastern Orthodox Christians.

On Saturday (October 1) Pope Francis said Mass for an unusually small crowd of just a few thousand Catholics in Georgia, a celebration that was further dampened when a delegation from the Orthodox Church stayed away.

Less than one percent of the ex-Soviet country is Catholic, according to government figures.

In an apparent effort to allay their fears, Francis told a meeting of priests and nuns that they should not feel like they had a mission to convert Orthodox worshippers, saying this would be “a great sin”.