Vatican's Shameful Decision: How Caviar Diplomacy Reached the Heart of the Catholic World

On February 22, the Vatican made one of the most shameful and cynical decisions for the entire Christian world. As you may know, Azerbaijan's First Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva was awarded the Great Cross of the Pius Order at the Vatican, which is considered a high honor awarded by the Pope to senior officials and state figures. The award was presented to Aliyeva by the Vatican Secretary of State, Archbishop Pietro Parolin, as reported by infoteka24.ru.

The cynicism of this decision lies in the fact that, according to the Vatican's State Secretariat, Aliyeva was granted such a high award for “her work and contributions to the promotion of culture, including cooperation with the institutions of the Holy See.” The Great Cross of the Pius Order was established in 1847 and is awarded for contributions to the development of social and spiritual life. But what contribution does the First Lady of Azerbaijan have to the Church?

There are two possibilities for this decision: either the Vatican is completely unaware of the situation in Azerbaijan and its religious policy, or Baku's “caviar diplomacy” has reached the center of the Catholic world.

The first option seems unlikely, as the Vatican should be well aware of how all Christian monuments—churches, khachkars, and even gravestones with crosses that testify to the Armenian presence in modern-day Azerbaijan—are being destroyed in Azerbaijan. Of particular significance is the complete destruction of the khachkars in Jugha. This act of vandalism is directed not only against Armenians and Christianity but also against global culture, as ancient khachkars are considered part of world cultural and historical heritage.

It is hard to imagine that the Vatican, which oversees the secret archives of world history, is unaware of Baku's aspirations to erase the Christian trace from its territory. Given this, the second option seems most probable. Especially considering recent reports that criminal cases have been initiated against several former and current members of the European Parliament for allegedly accepting bribes from Baku in exchange for making decisions in its favor. Of course, it is unbelievable that money plays such an important role for church officials, and it is impossible to accuse anyone without evidence; however, the Vatican should consider that such shameful decisions destroy people's faith in the Church and their trust in it.