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As is customary upon the return from an apostolic visit, Pope Francis today dedicated his general audience address to a recap of last weekend’s trip to Georgia and Azerbaijan. “This journey was the continuation and completion of the one to Armenia in the month of June,” he explained. “Thus, thank God, I was able to realize the plan to visit all three of these Caucasian countries, to confirm the Catholic Church that lives in them and to encourage the path of those populations towards peace and fraternity.”
The Pope noted his gratitude to God and to the authorities of both countries, in particular thanking the “Patriarch of All Georgia, Ilia II — his testimony did so much good to my heart and soul — and to the Sheikh of the Muslims of the Caucasus.” The Church is present in the challenges of this phase of their history, the Pope assured, in charity and in supporting the development of peoples, “in communion with the other Christian Churches and Communities and in dialogue with the other religious communities, in the certainty that God is Father of all and we are <all> brothers and sisters.”
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