Pope Francis embarks on three-day visit to Georgia, Azerbaijan

PanARMENIAN.Net - Pope Francis on Friday, September 30 begins a three-day visit to Georgia and Azerbaijan, which will feature meetings with political and religious leaders in both countries, RFE/RL reports citing the Vatican press service.

One of his first meetings in Tbilisi will be with Orthodox Patriarch Ilia II of Georgia at the patriarchal palace. Both of the religious leaders will be giving speeches there.

Afterwards, the pope will meet with Chaldean Catholics at the Church of St. Simon the Tanner for prayers.

On October 1, Francis will preside over a Mass at Mikheil Meskhi Stadium. At the end of the day, he will visit the Orthodox patriarchal Svetitskhoveli Cathedral in Mtskheta.

On October 2, Francis will fly to Baku and hold Mass at the Salesian-run Church of the Immaculate Conception. Later, he will visit a monument to those who died in the struggle for independence and meet with government leaders.

The pope's visit to Azerbaijan will end with a series of interreligious meetings, including one with the sheikh of Muslims in the Caucasus at the Heydar Aliyev mosque.

Francis was in Armenia on June 24-26, where he served a divine liturgy and prayed for the Armenian Genocide victims at the Tsitsernakaberd memorial.