Mehriban Aliyeva meets with Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, the President of the Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archaeology

On June 2, within her visit to Italy, Azerbaijan’s First Lady, President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Mehriban Aliyeva met with Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, the President of the Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archaeology.

The Cardinal thanked Mehriban Aliyeva for the contribution made to the development of relations between Vatican and Azerbaijan, as well as restoration of Holy Roman catacombs. He appreciated the works done by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation.

Grateful for visiting Vatican, Mehriban Aliyeva expressed a hope the meeting with the Supreme Pontiff within the framework of the visit will have a positive impact on the interstate relations. Saying Gianfranco Ravasi was a friend of Azerbaijan, Mehriban Aliyeva conveyed greetings of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to the Cardinal and invited him again to Baku.

Underscoring the jointly implemented projects, Mehriban Aliyeva said the Foundation has contributed to restoration of monuments of universal significance in various countries of the world. The First Lady said, along with the restoration of the Roman catacombs, other projects will also be implemented  and collaboration with Vatican in this direction will continue.

At the meeting, information was given with regard to the first stage of the works being carried out on restoration of the Roman catacombs with the support of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation.

At the end, souvenirs were mutually presented.