Pope Francis said Mass today for the miniscule Catholic community in Shi'ite Muslim Azerbaijan, urging the "precious little flock" to keep the faith and paying tribute to those persecuted during the Soviet era. The oil and gas-rich nation of about nine million people bordering on Russia, Iran and Turkey, has only about 700 Catholics, according to Vatican figures. Many of them are foreigners, including staff from embassies and domestic workers and some in the oil and gas industries. In fact, today's Mass, which was said mostly in English, had more of the feeling of a worship service in a multi-ethnic, well-to-do American suburb than a liturgy on the Caspian sea. "You are a little flock that is so precious in God's eyes," he told the congregation in the homily of the Mass in the modern church, which opened in 2007 and was built on the site of one demolished under Soviet rule in 1931. "Courage. Go ahead without fear", Francis said, praising them for being a close-knit and vibrant "community on the periphery". Francis, who arrived in Baku from neighbouring Georgia and returns to Rome tonight, also paid tribute to Christians who were persecuted by the Communists. "FAITH IN...
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