Over the past year, Azerbaijan has increased its presence in Rome—funding the restoration of St. Paul Outside the Walls and co-sponsoring interfaith conferences at the Gregorian University. These initiatives have been welcomed as gestures of tolerance and dialogue. But they also raise difficult questions.

In First Things Magazine, I explore what Azerbaijan’s “caviar diplomacy” means for the Vatican’s moral witness—particularly in light of Baku’s ongoing campaign of cultural erasure against Armenian Christians. If the Church is serious about ecumenism with the Christian East, it must be willing to speak plainly, even when uncomfortable.

Read the full piece here: https://firstthings.com/the-vaticans-duty-to-armenian-christians/.