First of all, the blogger doubts that Azerbaijanis Catholics think of their nation with "an area of 33,436 square miles and has an estimated population of 9,165,000," [3] many times the size of Vatican City State measuring only 0.2 square miles with a population of 770, [4] as being "on the periphery" or for that matter, themselves as being "on the periphery" because whoever has faith in God is always at the center, never the periphery.
From a architectural standpoint, do the images below give the impression that Azerbaijan is a nation on the periphery?
The modern buildings shown above are in Baku. "Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, is the largest city of the country. It covers an area of 822.4 square miles and has an estimated population of 2,064,900." [5] "There are about 570 local Roman Catholics in the country as of 2016." [6] The relatively small number of Roman Catholics in Azerbaijan probably appreciated the pope's visit, but perhaps not so much his "off-the-cuff" remarks.
From a architectural standpoint, do the images below give the impression that Azerbaijan is a nation on the periphery?
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| http://img.sia.az/uploads/20131127_120921061931-gb-flame-towers-panorama-horizontal-gallery.jpg |
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| Heydar Aliyev Centre, Baku Design: Zaha Hadid Architects photo : Hélène Binet |
The modern buildings shown above are in Baku. "Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, is the largest city of the country. It covers an area of 822.4 square miles and has an estimated population of 2,064,900." [5] "There are about 570 local Roman Catholics in the country as of 2016." [6] The relatively small number of Roman Catholics in Azerbaijan probably appreciated the pope's visit, but perhaps not so much his "off-the-cuff" remarks.
The first paragraph of the pope's "off-the-cuff" remarks (translated by Vatican Radio) is quoted below [7]:
Someone may think that the Pope wastes so much time: travelling so many kilometres to visit a small community of 700 people, in a country of 2 million. Yet it is a community which is not uniform, because among you there are several languages spoken: Azeri, Italian, Spanish… many languages. It is a community on the peripheries. But the Pope, in this, imitates the Holy Spirit: he also descended from heaven to a small community in that closed periphery of the Cenacle. And to that community, which was fearful, felt poor and perhaps persecuted or rejected, the Holy Spirit imparts fortitude, power, and bold eloquence to go forth and proclaim the name of Jesus! And the doors of that community in Jerusalem, which were closed for fear or shame, were thrust wide open releasing the power of the Spirit. The Pope wastes time as the Holy Spirit did in those days!
This skeptical blogger finds it hard to believe that the pope's remark was "off-the-cuff;" rather, he thinks that the venue was deliberately chosen so that the pope's carefully scripted "off-the-cuff" speech could be recited. His mistake in recalling Azerbaijan's population as 2 million instead of the actual 9 million is understandable since in his mind at the time Azerbaijan was a nation on the periphery, even though it could be said that he was thinking about the relatively small group of Catholics, numbering roughly between 570 and 700 (see above), to be a community in the periphery within the larger Azerbaijanis population of 2 million in the city of Baku when he misspoke. Regardless of what the pope was actually thinking, the off-the-cuff remark or prepared text was well-staged to provide the pope with the opportunity to equate himself with the Holy Spirit.
Admittedly, the translation of the pope's "off-the-cuff" remarks was an enjoyable read but on closer examination, the comparison the pope was trying to make ended before it began. In the pope's imaginary upper room in Azerbaijan where the pope appeared, the Azerbaijanis in attendance already spoke different languages: they did not need to experience "tongues of fire" [8] to have that ability.
Furthermore, in the pope's imagination, the Azerbaijanis attendees were like the apostles in the Cenacle, possibly "fearful, felt poor and perhaps persecuted or rejected," and like the Holy Spirit that spent time imparting "fortitude, power and bold eloquence," this megalomaniac pope said with a tinge of sarcasm that he wasted time just as the Holy Spirit had wasted time in "those days" to "thrust wide open" the doors of "fear or shame," implying shamelessly that his presence had bestowed upon the Azerbaijanis Catholics the ability to release "the power of the Spirit."
The pope's imagination was indeed rich; this blogger can no longer claim that his own is crazy. In comparison to the pope's, his ought to be re-diagnosed as normal.
For the pope's next appearance as a stand-in for the Holy Spirit, the blogger recommends him to go into an upper room in Aleppo, Syria, to give "fortitude, power and bold eloquence" to those those Syrian Catholics who are truly fearful, poor, persecuted and rejected. [9]
[1] http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2016/10/02/pope_encourages_azerbaijan_catholics_at_sunday_angelus/1262270, accessed October 3, 2016.
[2] Ibid.
[2] Ibid.
[3] http://www.mapsofworld.com/azerbaijan/facts.html, accessed October 3, 2016.
[4] http://geography.about.com/cs/countries/a/smallcountries.htm, accessed October 3, 2016.
[5] http://www.mapsofworld.com/azerbaijan/facts.html, accessed October 3, 2016.
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