POPE REFRAINS TO USE TERM GENOCIDE

PanARMENIAN.Net
26.11.2008 19:06 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ On November 23, Catholicos of Cilicia, His Holiness
Aram I visited Vatican where he met with Pope Benedict XVI, Times
Online reports.

At the audience, at which the Pope was accompanied by Aram I, the
pontiff deplored "misunderstandings among Christians". He said the
Armenian leader’s "fraternal visit" is "an occasion to strengthen the
bonds that exist and a further step in the journey toward full unity,
which is the objective of all Christians and a gift of the Lord."

For his part, Aram I said, "Churches, religions and states should
recognize all genocides, including the Armenian Genocide, and they
should commit themselves to preventing all genocides."

Earlier, a high-ranking Vatican official has emphasized that the Holy
See regards the Armenian Genocide as a fact.

"The Armenian Genocide is a fact. The Vatican’s stance on this issue
was stated during a visit to Armenia by [late Pope] John Paul II. The
pope attended the Armenian Genocide memorial and did use the term
Genocide, although this did not please Turkey," said Cardinal Walter
Kasper, President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian
Unity.

The cardinal’s remarks came ahead of meeting between Pope Benedict
XVI and a group of visiting Armenian clerics led by Catholicos of
Cilicia Aram I, the leader of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Lebanon.

"Genocide is not an allegation, but is a reality. This is not an
issue of term. It is a historical fact with a lot of victims and
this memory needs to be healed. I don’t know what the Vatican can do
to ease Turkey-Armenia relations. But this is also an important case
for peace in the Middle East. First of all, the Catholic Church sides
with the victims. This is the most important principle for us while
determining our manners," the Cardinal said.