Pope Francis began his first visit to Armenia with the condemnation of the genocide

Фото: Depositphotos

Pope Francis, who arrived in Armenia on a visit to Armenia, confirmed his attitude to the mass killings of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire at the beginning of the last century, calling it genocide and condemning the crime.

In 2015, the pontiff already used the term “the first genocide of the XNUMXth century,” which caused a sharp reaction from official Turkey. The Turkish ambassador was then immediately recalled from the Vatican, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated that he condemns the Pope, who “shouldn’t make a mistake like that again.”

It was expected that during his visit to Yerevan, Francis would refrain from categorical statements, but in his address to the President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan and the diplomatic corps, the pontiff retreated from the text prepared in advance.

When touching on the topic of mass murder of Armenians, the pope first used the Armenian term “Metz Yeghern” (“Great Crime”), but then added the word “genocide.”

“This tragedy, genocide, unfortunately, topped the sad list of inhumane catastrophes of the past century, which occurred under blinding racist, ideological and religious pretexts that clouded the consciousness of the killers who set out to destroy entire nations,” Interfax quotes the pontiff as saying.

Ankara has not yet made new statements on this.

In Armenia, Francis will serve the liturgy in Gyumri (formerly Leninakan), the second largest city in Armenia, which has not yet fully recovered from the Spitak earthquake that occurred 28 years ago. It is in the north of Armenia that the Franks live, as the few Armenian Catholics call themselves.

This is not the first visit of the heads of the Catholic Church to Armenia. Pope John Paul II visited here in 2001, when Armenia celebrated the 1700 anniversary of the adoption of Christianity as the official religion.

Francis himself in 2015 canonized the XNUMXth-century Armenian philosopher-theologian and poet Grigor Narekatsi and awarded him the title of Doctor of the Church, placing the author of the Book of Sorrows on a par with John Chrysostom and Augustine the Blessed.

According to Armenian and many independent historians, 1,5 million Armenians died during the First World War as a result of systematic killings. The Armenian Genocide has been condemned by many countries of the world.

Turkey claims that about 500 thousands of Armenian Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire were killed during clashes with government forces during the First World War, but considers the so-called death toll inflated and denies that the killings were committed solely on a national basis.

Of the 50 US states, 45, including California, have officially recognized and condemned the Armenian genocide and declared April 24 as Genocide Remembrance Day, but the genocide has not yet been recognized at the state level. Even before his first presidential term in the White House, Barack Obama called the crime against Armenians “genocide.”

Read also on ForumDaily:

Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide: memorial events take place around the world

In Los Angeles, 60 thousands of people commemorated the victims of the Armenian Genocide. A PHOTO

In Yerevan, George Clooney visited the brandy factory and remembered Trump. A PHOTO

Scandal in Boston: the Armenian diaspora has achieved dismantling of the shield with the denial of the Armenian Genocide

Nagorno-Karabakh: Armenia does not believe the authorities of Azerbaijan

Armenia tops list of countries where unhealthy food

Go to the page ForumDaily on Facebook to keep abreast of the latest news and comment material.