The Heydar Aliyev Foundation of Azerbaijan and the Governorate sign an Agreement, titled, “The Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls - Jubilee 2025"

A sign of friendship and cooperation

As the Jubilee approaches, the Papal Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls is in need of restoration works to ensure that pilgrims can visit the complex in complete safety. To this end, the Governorate of Vatican City State and the Heydar Aliyev Foundation of Azerbaijan, signed an agreement titled ,“The Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls - Jubilee 2025”, on Wednesday morning, 11 September. Under the Agreement, which was signed by Cardinal Fernando Vérgez Alzaga, President of the Governorate of Vatican City State, and Anar Alakbarov, Assistant to the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and Executive Director of the Foundation, the crucial restoration works will be funded by the Foundation.

Among others, the signing ceremony was attended by Cardinal James Michael Harvey, Archpriest of the Papal Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls, Sr. Raffaella Petrini, General Secretary of the Governorate, Mr. Ilgar Yusif oğlu Mukhtarov, Ambassador of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the Holy See, Mr. Giuseppe Puglisi- Alibrandi, Vice General Secretary of the Governorate, Mr. Salvatore Farina, Director of the Directorate of Infrastructures and Services, Ms. Lucia Cosmano and Mr. Filippo Cascone.

The Delegation of Azerbaijan, which included Soltan Mammadov, Ilgar Mukhtarov, Mikayil Ramazanli, Maryam Mehdiyeva, Jalal Karimov, Nihad Budagov and Fidan Yusibova, was officially welcomed into the meeting room of the President of the Vatican Delegation, after which, Cardinal Vérgez Alzaga and Sr. Petrini met in private with the Executive Director and the Ambassador of Azerbaijan to the Holy See  for a brief conversation. Georgina Bernett of the Governorate and Maryam Mehdiyeva, Attaché at the Embassy of Azerbaijan, were the interpreters for the occasion.

Cardinal Vérgez Alzaga then addressed those present (see below). After reading the Agreement, the document was signed, and the Delegation of Azerbaijan travelled to the Papal Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls for an inspection, accompanied by Cardinal Harvey, Mr. Cascone and Mr. Farina.

The Delegation was able to view the condition of the marble surfaces of the Basilica’s naves and transept, and observe the areas that need to be restored to ensure the public’s safe transit in the Basilica, especially during the Jubilee year when a significant influx of visitors is expected. The marble cladding of the Basilica’s walls and of the columns of the naves have suffered damage due to structural movements and widespread rise in water levels, the result of having been built on the alluvial soils of the Tiber River, which are particularly subject to being deformed, and are causing the building to suffer gradual shifts.

In several areas of the Basilica, the marble cladding has become detached from the walls behind it, due to moisture intrusion. In some cases, the marble has been damaged by salt crystallization due to the constant rise in water levels in the layers below the Basilica. This presence inside the walls causes an increase in the volume of metallic elements, increased tension and rupture to the supporting stone, resulting in the detachment of the marble cladding. The water also causes a deterioration to the adhesive used to glue the marble, resulting in stains, darkening and colour alterations to much of the cladding.

Moreover, the various cracks in the foundations cause malformations that extend to the marble cladding, resulting in cracks and crevices and the detachment of the marble from the wall.

The tension in the Basilica’s structure also compromises the preservation of some marble capitals and ashlars in the arches above, with major cracks that could cause some decorative elements to fall.

Under the Agreement, the Heydar Aliyev Foundation of Azerbaijan will fund the restoration works to secure the marble decorations, which will be carried out in various phases to cause as little inconvenience as possible to people who visit the Basilica.

The Agreement is a confirmation of the sincere friendship and mutual cooperation that exists between the Governorate and Azerbaijan.

The following is the Cardinal’s address:

I offer a heartfelt welcome to all of you,

In particular, I greet Cardinal James Michael Harvey, Archpriest of the Papal Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls, H.E. Ilgar (Yusif oğlu), Ambassador of Azerbaijan to the Holy See and Mr. Anar Alakbarov, Executive Director of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, Sister Raffaella Petrini, General Secretary of the Governorate and the Mr. Giuseppe Puglisi, Lawyer and Vice General Secretary of the Governorate, members of the Diplomatic Corps and of the Foundation, and Directors of the Governorate,

I am deeply grateful to the Foundation for its generous contribution, which will allow us to safeguard and preserve the marble cladding and marble decorations of the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls, ahead of the upcoming Jubilee.

The Agreement we will be signing shortly, will strengthen the friendship between Azerbaijan and Vatican City State, a relationship marked by cooperation and mutual respect, which has grown closer over the years.

The preservation of the marble works is part of this cooperation, and is undoubtedly a fundamental project for pilgrims who will visit the Basilica during the Jubilee. Not only will they be able to walk along the aisles in complete tranquillity, but their safety will be fully guaranteed.

We are thus, grateful to the Foundation for having made all this possible and to Azerbaijan, represented here by the Ambassador to the Holy See, for his constant availability and cooperation.

I renew my gratitude to the Governorate, which I represent, and I would like to conclude with the words Pope Francis’ addressed to Authorities in the Heydar Aliyev Center in Baku, on Sunday 2 October 2016, during his Apostolic Journey to your country:

“It is my sincere hope that Azerbaijan may continue along the way of cooperation between different cultures and religious confessions. May harmony and peaceful coexistence be evermore a source of vitality to the public and civil life of the country, in its multiplicity of expressions, ensuring to all men and women the possibility of offering their own contribution to the common good”.

Thank you for your presence.