Your trusted source

Pope Francis on Sunday called for the protection of Nagorno-Karabakh's (Artsakh) religious heritage, especially its monasteries, following the Azerbaijan offensive there in September that led to the flight of almost the entire ethnic Armenian population, AFP reported.

With the mass exodus of Armenians and the announced dissolution of the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh, the cultural heritage of this Caucasus territory, considered ancestral by the largely Christian Armenians, is at risk.

"Beyond the humanitarian situation of the displaced people, which is serious, I would like to appeal for the protection of the monasteries and places of worship in the region," said Francis after his traditional Angelus prayer in Saint Peter's Square in Rome.

"I express the wish that they may be respected, both by the authorities and by all its inhabitants, and protected as part of the local culture, in an expression of faith and a sign of a fraternity that allows us to live together in our differences," added the Pontiff.