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April 12 2015
Furious With Francis, Turkey Yanks Ambassador
After pope labeled Armenian genocide a genocide
By Polly Davis Doig, Newser Staff
(Newser) - Pope Francis today lamented the deaths a century ago of
some 1.5 million Armenians as one of "three massive and unprecedented
tragedies" that struck the last century, reports the BBC, and the AP
adds that Turkey wasted little time in yanking its ambassador to the
Vatican after the pontiff termed the deaths "the first genocide of the
20th century." Per a statement from Ankara's foreign ministry,
Francis' statement is "controversial in every aspect, which is based
on prejudice, which distorts history and reduces the pains suffered in
Anatolia under the conditions of the First World War to members of
just one religion."
Francis was honoring a 10th century mystic at today's Mass, and he
seemed to know he was inciting the wrath of Turkey, which fiercely
denies that the World War I-era killings constitute genocide or that
the death toll was that high. "Concealing or denying evil is like
allowing a wound to keep bleeding without bandaging it," said Francis.
He spoke at an Armenian rite in front of Armenian Christian leaders
and Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, notes the AP, and he's not the
first pontiff to label it a genocide; Pope John Paul II also did.
Turkey yanked its US ambassador in 2010 after a House panel passed a
resolution declaring it genocide.
http://www.newser.com/story/205318/francis-laments-armenia-genocide-turkey-fumes.html
April 12 2015
Furious With Francis, Turkey Yanks Ambassador
After pope labeled Armenian genocide a genocide
By Polly Davis Doig, Newser Staff
(Newser) - Pope Francis today lamented the deaths a century ago of
some 1.5 million Armenians as one of "three massive and unprecedented
tragedies" that struck the last century, reports the BBC, and the AP
adds that Turkey wasted little time in yanking its ambassador to the
Vatican after the pontiff termed the deaths "the first genocide of the
20th century." Per a statement from Ankara's foreign ministry,
Francis' statement is "controversial in every aspect, which is based
on prejudice, which distorts history and reduces the pains suffered in
Anatolia under the conditions of the First World War to members of
just one religion."
Francis was honoring a 10th century mystic at today's Mass, and he
seemed to know he was inciting the wrath of Turkey, which fiercely
denies that the World War I-era killings constitute genocide or that
the death toll was that high. "Concealing or denying evil is like
allowing a wound to keep bleeding without bandaging it," said Francis.
He spoke at an Armenian rite in front of Armenian Christian leaders
and Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, notes the AP, and he's not the
first pontiff to label it a genocide; Pope John Paul II also did.
Turkey yanked its US ambassador in 2010 after a House panel passed a
resolution declaring it genocide.
http://www.newser.com/story/205318/francis-laments-armenia-genocide-turkey-fumes.html