Pope recognizes Armenian ‘genocide’ likely straining relationship with Turkey
By ARIEL COHEN
04/12/2015 11:59
“Concealing or denying evil is like allowing a wound to keep bleeding
without bandaging it!” Francis said.
In a statement likely to strain diplomatic ties with Turkey, Pope
Francis referred to the 20th century mass killings of Armenians as the
first genocide of the 20th century during a mass to commemorate the
100th anniversary of the killings.
“In the past century our human family has lived through three massive
and unprecedented tragedies,” Francis said during mass in Saint
Peter’s Basilica on Sunday morning. “The first, which is widely
considered ‘the first genocide of the 20th century’, struck your own
Armenian people,” he said.
Over 1.5 million Armenians perished under the Ottoman Empire during
World War I. Armenians have been fighting for years to receive
recognition that the event was indeed a genocide. Turkey has ardently
insisted that the event was not a genocide, and that the deaths of the
Christian Armenians were merely a part of the partisan fighting.
Francis referred to the tragedy as a “senseless slaughter,” stating
that it is important to keep the memory of the genocide alive.
“It is necessary, and indeed a duty, to honor their memory, for
whenever memory fades, it means that evil allows wounds to fester,”
Francis said. “Concealing or denying evil is like allowing a wound to
keep bleeding without bandaging it.”
The Pope also recalled other mass killings of the 20th century, such
as those in Cambodia, Rwanda, Burundi and Bosnia. “It seems that
humanity is incapable of putting a halt to the shedding of innocent
blood,” he added.
Patriarch of the Armenian Catholic Church, His Beatitude Nerses Bedros
XIX, His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians, and His
Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Holy See of Cilicia of the Armenian
Apostolic Church were all in attendance during the mass.
Turkey has yet to respond to the statement by Pope Francis, but it is
unlikely they will take kindly to the Vatican referring to the deaths
of the Christian Armenians as a “genocide.”
From: A. Papazian