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Pope marks 100th anniversary of Armenia genocide

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  • Pope marks 100th anniversary of Armenia genocide

    AsiaOne
    April 12 2015

    Pope marks 100th anniversary of Armenia genocide

    AFPSunday, Apr 12, 2015


    VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis faces a key diplomatic test Sunday as he
    marks the centenary of the mass killings of Armenians and elects
    whether to use the word "genocide", at the risk of alienating Turkey.

    The 78-year old head of the Roman Catholic Church is under pressure to
    use the term publicly to describe the Ottoman Turk murders, but will
    be wary of alienating an important ally in the fight against radical
    Islam.

    While many historians describe the cull as the 20th century's first
    genocide, Turkey hotly denies the accusation.

    Francis and Armenian patriarch Nerses Bedros XIX Tarmouni will
    celebrate a mass in Saint Peter's Basilica, which will include
    elements of the Armenian Catholic rite and be attended by the
    country's President Serzh Sargsyan.

    During the ceremony Francis will proclaim a 10th-century Armenian monk
    a "Doctor of the Church", making Saint Gregory just one of 36 saintly
    theologians whose writings are considered to hold key insights on the
    Catholic faith.

    The mass, which begins at 0700 GMT, is being held ahead of the
    official April 24 commemoration of the murders.

    Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their kin were killed between 1915
    and 1917 as the Ottoman Empire was falling apart, and have long sought
    to win international recognition of the massacres as genocide.

    But Turkey rejects the claims, arguing that 300,000 to 500,000
    Armenians and as many Turks died in civil strife when Armenians rose
    up against their Ottoman rulers and sided with invading Russian
    troops.

    The Vatican has a long history of support for the Armenians: as early
    as 1915, pope Benedict XV wrote two letters to Sultan Mohammed V
    asking him to intervene in the mass killings, but his pleas fell on
    deaf ears.

    Using the word would not be a papal first: John Paul II used it in a
    joint statement signed with the Armenian patriarch in 2000 which said
    "the Armenian genocide, which began the century, was a prologue to
    horrors that would follow".

    But it provoked outrage in Turkey, and a year later during a trip to
    Armenia the pontiff avoided using the term, instead opting for "Metz
    Yeghern", an expression meaning "Great Evil", used by Armenians to
    describe the killings.


    http://news.asiaone.com/news/world/pope-marks-100th-anniversary-armenia-genocide

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