The Salesians of Slovakia, engaged in a mission “sui iuris” in Azerbaijan, have opened a website of information and promotion of the Catholic Church. The project, coordinated together with a youth group, provides information on the Catholic Church in Azerbaijan which resumed its presence in the country in 2000, after 70 years of silence. As the ANS Salesian press agency reports, the website provides sections on the history of the Catholic Church, documents of the teaching of the Church and local and world news. A forum, on which users can interact on various issues, has also been activated. At the present time the website is in Russian, but a version in Azerbaijani is being prepared. So a further small piece has been added to the growing presence of the small Catholic community of Azerbaijan, which recently consecrated the new church dedicated to the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary, in Baku. The consecration, in late April, was officiated by Monsignor Claudio Gugerotti, Apostolic Nuncio of Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. Built on a site donated by the Azerbaijani government to the Catholic Church after the apostolic visit of John Paul II, in May 2002, the new church is modern in style, but with neo-gothic elements. It was built thanks to the support of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples and many benefactors. The church of the Immaculate Conception is in fact the only Catholic church in Azerbaijan, a country with 8 million inhabitants of whom 95% are Muslims. There are little more than 300 Catholics. The Salesian community, led by Msgr. Ján Capla, Superior of the mission, consists of six religious: 2 coadjutors and 4 priests.
