{Pope Francis referred to the mass killing of Armenians by the Ottoman Turks in 1915 as a \u201cgenocide,\u201d prompting the Turkish government to summon the Vatican\u2019s ambassador for questioning.}<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the past century our human family has lived through three massive and unprecedented tragedies. The first, which is widely considered \u2018the first genocide of the twentieth century,\u2019 struck your own Armenian people, the first Christian nation,\u201d the Pope said April 12.<\/p>\n
Francis\u2019 reference to the genocide was taken from a common declaration signed by both Pope Saint John Paull II and Supreme Armenian Patriarch Karekin II in 2001.<\/p>\n
His comments took place before celebrating Mass on Divine Mercy Sunday, which is a feast instituted by St. John Paul II and celebrated on the Second Sunday of the Church\u2019s liturgical Easter season.<\/p>\n
Francis offered the Mass for faithful of the Armenian rite in commemoration of the centenary of the \u201cMetz Yeghern,\u201d or Armenian \u201cmartyrdom.\u201d April 24 is recognized in Armenia as the official date of the start of the event.<\/p>\n
Many faithful and members of the Armenian rite were present for Sunday\u2019s Mass, including Armenian president Serz Azati Sargsyan, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of all Armenians Karekin II, Catholicos Aram I and Patriarch Nerses Bedros XIX.<\/p>\n
The Pope has kept strong ties with the Armenian community since his time as archbishop of Buenos Aires, and a group of Argentinian Armenians were among those gathered for the Mass.<\/p>\n
During the Mass, Francis also proclaimed Armenian-rite Saint Gregory of Narek a Doctor of the Church, making the 10th century priest, monk, mystic, and poet the first Armenian to receive the title.<\/p>\n
Widely referred to as a genocide, the mass killings took place in 1915-1916 when the Ottoman Empire systematically exterminated its minority Armenian population who called Turkey their homeland, most of whom were Christians. Roughly 1.5 million Armenians lost their lives.<\/p>\n
Turkey has repeatedly denied that the slaughter was a genocide, saying that the number of deaths was much smaller, and came as a result of conflict surrounding World War I. The country holds that many ethnic Turks also lost their lives in the event.<\/p>\n
However, most non-Turkish scholars refer to the episode as a genocide. Argentina, Belgium, Canada, France, Italy, Russia and Uruguay are among the 22 nations that formally recognize the massacre as a genocide.<\/p>\n
Reports have circulated saying that the Turkish government summoned the Vatican\u2019s papal nuncio, Archbishop Antonio Lucibello, for questioning after the Pope\u2019s genocide comment.<\/p>\n
When CNA phoned the Turkish embassy to the Holy See, they declined to comment, however the apostolic nunciature in Ankara responded by saying that the nuncio had in fact been called.<\/p>\n
After Francis made his comments, the Turkish Foreign Ministry released a statement expressing their \u201cgreat disappointment and sadness\u201d at the Pope\u2019s remarks. They said the words signaled a loss of trust and contradicted his message of peace, the Associated Press reports.<\/p>\n
The foreign ministry also held that Francis\u2019 words were discriminatory, because he only mentioned the pain suffered by Christians, and not Muslims or any other religious group.<\/p>\n
In his greeting ahead of Sunday\u2019s Mass, Pope Francis noted how \u201cbishops and priests, religious, women and men, the elderly and even defenseless children and the infirm were murdered\u201d in the 1915 massacre, which targeted Catholic and Orthodox Syrians, Assyrians, Chaldeans and Greeks.<\/p>\n
Francis also called to mind other tragic events of the 20th century, including the violence perpetrated by Nazism and Stalinism, as well as other mass killings carried out in Cambodia, Rwanda, Burundi and Bosnia.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt seems that humanity is incapable of putting a halt to the shedding of innocent blood (and) has refused to learn from its mistakes caused by the law of terror,\u201d he said, noting that the enthusiasm to end such violence that came at the end of the Second World War seems to be \u201cdisappearing.\u201d<\/p>\n
By the \u201ccomplicit silence of others who simply stand by,\u201d the agenda of those who seek to eliminate others continues, the Pope said.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday too we are experiencing a sort of genocide created by general and collective indifference, by the complicit silence of Cain, who cries out: \u2018What does it matter to me? Am I my brother\u2019s keeper?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
It is both necessary and a duty to honor the centenary of the \u201cimmense and senseless slaughter\u201d the Armenians had to endure, Pope Francis said, because when memories fade, evil can enter and make old wounds fester.<\/p>\n
\u201cConcealing or denying evil is like allowing a wound to keep bleeding without bandaging it!\u201d he said, and stressed that evil is never something that comes from God.<\/p>\n
In a message given to the Armenian community after the celebration, Pope Francis said that to remember the event is the responsibility of the whole world, so that it can serve as a warning not to repeat similar \u201chorrors\u201d in the future.<\/p>\n
He expressed his hope that Turkey and Armenia would work toward a greater reconciliation, and prayed that the Mass and proclamation of St. Gregory as a Doctor of the Church would be an occasion for all Christians to unite in prayer.<\/p>\n
At the close of the Mass, Catholicos Karekin II spoke in English, saying that the Armenian genocide is \u201can unforgettable and undeniable fact of history.\u201d<\/p>\n
The genocide is deeply engrained into the consciousness of the Armenian people, the patriarch said, therefore \u201cany attempt to erase it from history and from our common memory is doomed to fail.\u201d<\/p>\n
Karekin observed that according to international law, genocide is a crime against humanity that closely intertwines with condemnation, recognition and repatriation for the act, so therefore the Armenian cause is one of \u201cjustice.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the years after the genocide the Armenian Church has never forgotten \u201cthe continuous concern, assistance and solidarity of the Church of Rome toward Armenians,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The patriarch then expressed his \u201cdeep gratitude\u201d to Pope Francis, praying that he would be strengthened in body and spirit so as to continue his ministry \u201cwith renewed dynamism and spiritual courage.\u201d<\/p>\n
{{Source: Catholic News Agency}}<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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