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President Sargsyan, top Armenian clergy attend papal mass on Genocide Centennial
GENOCIDE | 12.04.15 | 12:53
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, Catholicoi Karekin II and Aram I,
the supreme heads of the Armenian Apostolic Church, on Sunday attended
a landmark mass by Pope Francis in the Vatican served on the 100th
anniversary of the 1915 Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey.
The head of the Roman Catholic Church concelebrated the mass in the
Armenian Catholic rite in St. Peter's Basilica with Patriarch Nerses
Bedros XIX, the Lebanon-based leader of Armenian Catholics.
In his speech, Pope Francis used the world genocide in describing the
mass killings of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey a century ago.
"In the past century our human family had lived through three massive
and unprecedented tragedies. The first, which is widely considered
'the first genocide of the 20th century', struck your own Armenian
people," the pontiff, in particular, said.
Pope Francis already angered Ankara in 2013 when he publicly referred
to the mass killings and deportations of Armenians as "the first
genocide of the 20th century." He called on the Turkish state to
recognize the genocide in 2006 when he was known as Archbishop Jorge
Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires.
The mass served in the Vatican on Sunday is likely to evoke more angry
reactions in Turkey that denies that the 1915 killings of Armenians
constituted genocide.
In another significant development during the event on Sunday, Pope
Francis bestowed the prestigious Catholic title of "Doctor of the
Church" on St. Gregory of Narek, a 10th-11th century Armenian cleric
renowned for his religious writings. Only 36 saints have so far been
given the title.
http://armenianow.com/genocide/62254/armenia_papal_mass_vatican_president_sargsyan_lead ers
GENOCIDE | 12.04.15 | 12:53
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, Catholicoi Karekin II and Aram I,
the supreme heads of the Armenian Apostolic Church, on Sunday attended
a landmark mass by Pope Francis in the Vatican served on the 100th
anniversary of the 1915 Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey.
The head of the Roman Catholic Church concelebrated the mass in the
Armenian Catholic rite in St. Peter's Basilica with Patriarch Nerses
Bedros XIX, the Lebanon-based leader of Armenian Catholics.
In his speech, Pope Francis used the world genocide in describing the
mass killings of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey a century ago.
"In the past century our human family had lived through three massive
and unprecedented tragedies. The first, which is widely considered
'the first genocide of the 20th century', struck your own Armenian
people," the pontiff, in particular, said.
Pope Francis already angered Ankara in 2013 when he publicly referred
to the mass killings and deportations of Armenians as "the first
genocide of the 20th century." He called on the Turkish state to
recognize the genocide in 2006 when he was known as Archbishop Jorge
Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires.
The mass served in the Vatican on Sunday is likely to evoke more angry
reactions in Turkey that denies that the 1915 killings of Armenians
constituted genocide.
In another significant development during the event on Sunday, Pope
Francis bestowed the prestigious Catholic title of "Doctor of the
Church" on St. Gregory of Narek, a 10th-11th century Armenian cleric
renowned for his religious writings. Only 36 saints have so far been
given the title.
http://armenianow.com/genocide/62254/armenia_papal_mass_vatican_president_sargsyan_lead ers