16 July 2010.  Baku – “Azerbaijan must not export only the petroleum. First of all, it has to export its tolerance model all over the world”. The First Counsellor of the Sheikh Pashadadze greeted the delegation of Rondine in a hall of the Caucasian Muslim Committee, serving hot tea in traditional glasses.

He is proud of the high level of integration among the several spiritual realties in his Country: “In the whole Caucasus there are both Sunnis and Shiites, but if you ask a passer-by which religion he belongs, he will ask you he is a Muslim. This is a great result obtained by the Committee”.

The Committee was set up in 1823,  but it was disbanded following the October Revolution. During the II World War, four different Religious Institutes were created by Stalin command. Nowadays,  there is only one Committee which gathers all the religions of the Caucasian area. Besides, the conflict in the Caucasus has never been religious. The First Counsellor thinks we can find its roots in politics and, above of all, in the atheism.

Mosques, Christian churches, synagogues and one Catholic church: Baku is tolerant towards every kind of religion. Thanks to Guy, a Jew student, Maga and Mago, both Muslim, and the other Orthodox students, Rondine has demonstrated that professing our own Faith in a climate of tolerance and respect, in a place where integration is possible, is one of the most efficient undertaking against conflict.

The meeting ended with the visit of the delegation to one of the most beautiful mosques in the city.