{"id":17989,"date":"2016-06-26T16:43:35","date_gmt":"2016-06-26T16:43:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.aaeurop.com\/?p=17989"},"modified":"2016-06-26T16:43:35","modified_gmt":"2016-06-26T16:43:35","slug":"pope-francis-condemns-genocide-of-armenians-before-visit-to-memorial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aaeurop.com\/?p=17989","title":{"rendered":"Pope Francis Condemns \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056d\u009cGenocide\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7 of Armenians Before Visit to Memorial"},"content":{"rendered":"

ROME \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0080\u009d Pope Francis<\/a> waded into turbulent geopolitical waters once again on Friday during his first visit to Armenia when he made an unscripted remark referring to the World War I-era massacre of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman Turks as a genocide.<\/p>\n

The prepared text of his speech did not include the politically contentious word, which generally draws furious reactions from Turkey. Instead, the text opted for the more veiled Armenian expression \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093metz yeghern,\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u009d which translates as the \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093great evil.\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u009d<\/p>\n

But in keeping with his penchant for blunt talk, the pontiff said Friday that \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093that tragedy\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u009d had been \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093a genocide\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u009d and was \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093the first of the deplorable series of catastrophes of the past century, made possible by twisted racial, ideological or religious aims that darkened the minds of the tormentors even to the point of planning the annihilation of entire peoples.\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u009d<\/p>\n

Francis\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7 words were met with a standing ovation by President Serzh Sargsyan of Armenia and other officials and diplomats who gathered at the presidential palace in Yerevan, the nation\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s capital, to hear the pope.<\/p>\n

There was no immediate reaction from Turkish leaders. Turkey has disputed the genocide designation, arguing that it was wartime and that many Turks were killed as well. And it has insisted that there was never a systematic plan to execute Armenians.<\/p>\n

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The last time Francis used the term in reference to the mass deaths of Armenians, in Rome in April 2015<\/a>, Turkey reacted angrily, recalling its ambassador to the Vatican<\/a> and not returning the envoy for 10 months.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The suffering and resilience of the Armenian people was the main theme of the first day of the pope\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s three-day trip to the Caucasus region. His speeches also underscored the importance of dialogue and cooperation to overcome conflict \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0080\u009d a tacit acknowledgment of Armenia\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s continuing frictions with its neighbors Turkey and Azerbaijan.<\/p>\n

\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093May all join in striving to ensure that whenever conflicts emerge between nations, dialogue, the enduring and authentic quest of peace, cooperation between states and the constant commitment of international organizations will always prevail,\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u009d the pope said.<\/p>\n

Armenia has no diplomatic relations with Turkey. It has also locked horns with Azerbaijan over the disputed province of Nagorno-Karabakh since they both broke free from the Soviet Union.<\/p>\n

The choice to begin the journey with Armenia is in line with the pope\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093different geopolitical map of the world,\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u009d said Alberto Melloni, a historian of the Vatican.<\/p>\n

Mr. Melloni noted that the pope has tended to \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093start with small countries, before approaching larger powers,\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u009d and that his visits to the Caucasus could be seen as a preliminary approach to Russia, \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093which is the Vatican\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s real issue \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0080\u009d what to do with Russia and China, the great superpowers of the century.\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u009d<\/p>\n

Originally, the pope had planned to include Georgia and Azerbaijan in his trip, but visits to those countries have been postponed until autumn.<\/p>\n

As the leader of one billion Roman Catholics, Francis also spoke Friday about the plight of Christians in the Middle East, where he said they suffer persecution and discrimination \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093perhaps even more than at the time of the first martyrs.\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u009d<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093It is vitally important that all those who declare their faith in God join forces to isolate those who use religion to promote war, oppression and violent persecution, exploiting and manipulating the holy name of God,\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u009d he said.<\/p>\n

Before leaving Rome, Francis said he would go to Armenia as a pilgrim \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093to the first Christian country.\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u009d Armenia adopted the faith in 301, and the Armenian Apostolic Church, which broke with other Christian churches in the fifth century over a theological dispute, counts about 93 percent of Armenia\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s population of three million as adherents. By contrast, the country has only about 280,000 Roman Catholics.<\/p>\n

Msgr. Gabriel Quicke, a Vatican official who works to promote unity with other Christian churches, said relations with the Armenian Apostolic Church have been strong since the Second Vatican Council 50 years ago.<\/p>\n

While in Armenia, the pope plans to visit the Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex, the country\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s main monument to the Armenian genocide in Yerevan. He is expected to lay a wreath there and meet with descendants of Armenian orphans who were given refuge at the papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, during the years of the killings, from 1915 to 1923. He also plans to visit a monastery near Mount Ararat, where the Bible says Noah\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s ark landed after the Great Flood.<\/p>\n

The pontiff\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s recognition of the Armenian genocide has drawn praise from Armenians and Armenian Americans.<\/p>\n

Karekin II, the patriarch of the Armenian Apostolic Church, told the pope on Friday that people remembered, \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093with gratitude,\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u009d Francis\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7 \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093historic sermon condemning the genocide\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u009d at St. Peter\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s Basilica last year<\/a>. And Aram Hamparian, executive director of the Armenian National Committee of America, issued a statement saying \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093the pope is both strengthening Christian solidarity with Armenia and taking a courageous stand for truth and justice.\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u009d<\/p>\n

nytimes.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ROME \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0080\u009d Pope Francis waded into turbulent geopolitical waters once again on Friday during his first visit to Armenia when he made an unscripted remark referring to the World War I-era massacre of an estimated […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17990,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aaeurop.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17989"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aaeurop.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aaeurop.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aaeurop.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aaeurop.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17989"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.aaeurop.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17989\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aaeurop.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/17990"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aaeurop.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17989"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aaeurop.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17989"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aaeurop.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17989"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}