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Pope Francis Proclaims Armenian Monk Doctor of the Church on Divine

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  • Pope Francis Proclaims Armenian Monk Doctor of the Church on Divine

    Aleteia
    April 12 2015


    Pope Francis Proclaims Armenian Monk Doctor of the Church on Divine Mercy Sunday

    And 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide

    (Vatican Radio) On Divine Mercy Sunday -- the Second Sunday of Easter --
    Pope Francis celebrated Solemn Mass for the Centenary of the Armenian
    Martyrdom. During the Liturgy, the Holy Father also proclaimed the
    great Armenian Saint Gregory of Narek a Doctor of the Church.

    Pope Francis processed into St. Peter's Basilica accompanied by the
    Catholicoi Karekin II and Aram I of the Armenian Apostolic Church,
    with the Patriarch Catholicos Nerses Bedros XIX a few paces ahead.
    Patriarch Nerses concelebrated Mass with the Holy Father.

    Greeting the Armenian faithful who had come to Rome for the event,
    Pope Francis spoke out boldly against cruelty, recalling the occasions
    when he had previously spoken of "a third world war" being fought
    piecemeal, a war "in which we daily witness savage crimes, brutal
    massacres and senseless destruction." Today, he said, "we are
    experiencing a sort of genocide created by a general and collective
    indifference, by the complicit silence of Cain..."

    Pope Francis noted three "massive and unprecedented tragedies" of the
    twentieth century, the first of which was the "Great Crime," the
    systematic massacre of Armenian Christians who were slaughtered
    because of their faith. The atrocities of the Nazis and the
    Communists, along with other mass killings, makes it seem as if
    "humanity is incapable of putting a halt to the shedding of innocent
    blood... We have not yet learned," he said, "that 'war is madness,' a
    'senseless slaughter.'"

    It is necessary, and even a duty, he said, to recall these events,
    notably the massacre of the Armenians, "with hearts filled with pain,
    but at the same time with great hope in the risen Christ."

    In his homily for Divine Mercy Sunday, Pope Francis focused on the
    wounds of Christ, the wounds our Lord showed His disciples so that
    they might believe He was truly risen from the dead. "The wounds of
    Jesus are wounds of mercy," the Pope said. "Through these wounds we
    can see the entire mystery of Christ and of God," the whole history of
    salvation. The wounds of Christ proclaim the mercy of God from
    generation to generation.

    Alluding once again to the centenary of the massacre of the Armenians,
    Pope Francis said the tragic events of history can leave us feeling
    crushed, wondering "why?" Humanity cannot fill the abyss left by the
    mystery of evil. "It is only Jesus, God made man, who died on the
    Cross and who fills the abyss of sin with the depth of His mercy."

    Pope Francis concluded, "Brothers and sisters, behold the way which
    God has opened for us to finally go out from our slavery to sin and
    death, and thus enter into the land of life and peace. Jesus,
    crucified and risen, is the way, and His wounds are full of mercy."


    http://www.aleteia.org/en/religion/article/pope-francis-proclaims-armenian-monk-doctor-of-the-church-on-divine-mercy-sunday-5886756738039808




    From: A. Papazian
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