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TURKEY ACCUSES POPE OF PROMOTING HATRED; PONTIFF CALLS SLAUGHTER OF ARMENIANS 'FIRST GENOCIDE OF THE 20TH CENTURY'
The Calgary Herald (Alberta), Canada
April 13, 2015 Monday
by : Joseph Brean, National Post
Turkey has accused Pope Francis of promoting hatred by declaring the
slaughter of Armenians by Ottoman Turks a century ago was genocide
on a scale with Nazism and Stalinism.
The killings in the last days of the Ottoman Empire weren't simply part
of the broader violence of First World War, but a calculated effort
to exterminate a race, "the first genocide of the 20th century,"
Francis said in a Vatican mass on Sunday to mark the centenary.
He urged other world leaders to recognize it as such, and to prevent
similar atrocities "without ceding to ambiguity or compromise."
Failing to call genocide by its name creates a climate in which it
becomes easier, Francis said. He urged Catholics to heed the "muffled
and forgotten cry of so many of our defenceless brothers and sisters
who, on account of their faith in Christ or their ethnic origin,
are publicly and ruthlessly put to death - decapitated, crucified,
burned alive - or forced to leave their homeland."
The claim that Ottoman Turks conducted genocide against Armenians is
not new, even for a Pope. Francis himself cited a statement made by
Pope John Paul II in 2001, when he prayed at an Armenian memorial,
comparing the victims to the Biblical Abel, murdered by his brother
Cain, who denied it. And Francis, formerly an Argentine cardinal,
has made similar comments to the large Armenian diaspora in Argentina.
But Francis has become a pontiff who is admired even by non-Catholics
for speaking blunt truths, which seem somehow different and deeper
when he expresses them from his high office.
"He is living dangerously," said Donald Boisvert, chair of religion
at Concordia University. "He certainly puts himself in vulnerable
positions where he knows that he is making enemies."
When he visited Israel a year ago and entered the West Bank, for
example, he made sure to refer to it as the "state of Palestine."
Likewise, the most famous comment of his papacy - "If a person is gay
and seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge?" - was delivered
offthe cuffto journalists on a plane.
He was even lavishly praised last year for acknowledging the truth
of evolution and the Big Bang, which have long been accepted in
Catholicism.
His remarks on Sunday were significant, though. They were made in
a mass in the Armenian rite at St. Peter's Basilica, on the 100th
anniversary of the genocide, and in the presence of Serzh Sargsyan,
President of Armenia, who later praised Francis for "calling things
by their names."
"It's consistent with the man's style," Boisvert said, citing examples
of Francis's efforts at moral suasion in pursuit of justice, and
contrasting him to Pius XII, whose inaction during the Holocaust has
drawn great criticism.
"He's a very forthright, honest and direct man who also knows full
well what he's saying."
Turkey was outraged. As the state that succeeded the Ottoman Empire,
it doesn't deny the violence, in which more than a million people
were killed by murder, forced labour and death marches, but strongly
denies it had a genocidal purpose. Canada formally acknowledged the
genocide in 2004, for example, and as recently as 2013 a Turkish
ambassador to Ottawa said it remains an obstacle to trade.
In the Turkish capital Ankara, diplomats summoned the Vatican
ambassador to express displeasure, and released a statement expressing
"great disappointment and sadness."
"The Pope's statement, which is out of touch with both historical
facts and legal basis, is simply unacceptable," Foreign Minister
Mevlut Cavusoglu tweeted.
"Religious offices are not places through which hatred and animosity
are fuelled by unfounded allegations."
Armenia holds a special place in the Christian historical imagination,
as the first nation to officially adopt Christianity as a state
religion in 301 AD, beating the Roman Empire by almost a century.
"By drawing attention to (the Armenian genocide), I think Francis is
underlying that broader concern he has that Christians all over the
world today, and in the past, are suffering for their faith," he said.
"I think he's doing this quite deliberately. He's not just shooting
offat the mouth. I think he realizes he can use the media to promote
things that are close to his heart."
He noted that Francis was recently in Turkey and did not make similar
comments then, which "would have been catastrophic." !@COPYRIGHT=©
2015 Postmedia Network Inc. All rights reserved.
GRAPHIC: Gregorio Borgia, The Associated Press; Pope Francis is
greeted by the head of Armenia's Orthodox Church, Karekin II, during
an Armenian-Rite Mass in St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, on
Sunday. The pontiff called the slaughter of Armenians by Ottoman Turks
"the first genocide of the 20th century" and urged the international
community to recognize it as such, sparking a diplomatic rift with
Turkey.;
From: A. Papazian
The Calgary Herald (Alberta), Canada
April 13, 2015 Monday
by : Joseph Brean, National Post
Turkey has accused Pope Francis of promoting hatred by declaring the
slaughter of Armenians by Ottoman Turks a century ago was genocide
on a scale with Nazism and Stalinism.
The killings in the last days of the Ottoman Empire weren't simply part
of the broader violence of First World War, but a calculated effort
to exterminate a race, "the first genocide of the 20th century,"
Francis said in a Vatican mass on Sunday to mark the centenary.
He urged other world leaders to recognize it as such, and to prevent
similar atrocities "without ceding to ambiguity or compromise."
Failing to call genocide by its name creates a climate in which it
becomes easier, Francis said. He urged Catholics to heed the "muffled
and forgotten cry of so many of our defenceless brothers and sisters
who, on account of their faith in Christ or their ethnic origin,
are publicly and ruthlessly put to death - decapitated, crucified,
burned alive - or forced to leave their homeland."
The claim that Ottoman Turks conducted genocide against Armenians is
not new, even for a Pope. Francis himself cited a statement made by
Pope John Paul II in 2001, when he prayed at an Armenian memorial,
comparing the victims to the Biblical Abel, murdered by his brother
Cain, who denied it. And Francis, formerly an Argentine cardinal,
has made similar comments to the large Armenian diaspora in Argentina.
But Francis has become a pontiff who is admired even by non-Catholics
for speaking blunt truths, which seem somehow different and deeper
when he expresses them from his high office.
"He is living dangerously," said Donald Boisvert, chair of religion
at Concordia University. "He certainly puts himself in vulnerable
positions where he knows that he is making enemies."
When he visited Israel a year ago and entered the West Bank, for
example, he made sure to refer to it as the "state of Palestine."
Likewise, the most famous comment of his papacy - "If a person is gay
and seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge?" - was delivered
offthe cuffto journalists on a plane.
He was even lavishly praised last year for acknowledging the truth
of evolution and the Big Bang, which have long been accepted in
Catholicism.
His remarks on Sunday were significant, though. They were made in
a mass in the Armenian rite at St. Peter's Basilica, on the 100th
anniversary of the genocide, and in the presence of Serzh Sargsyan,
President of Armenia, who later praised Francis for "calling things
by their names."
"It's consistent with the man's style," Boisvert said, citing examples
of Francis's efforts at moral suasion in pursuit of justice, and
contrasting him to Pius XII, whose inaction during the Holocaust has
drawn great criticism.
"He's a very forthright, honest and direct man who also knows full
well what he's saying."
Turkey was outraged. As the state that succeeded the Ottoman Empire,
it doesn't deny the violence, in which more than a million people
were killed by murder, forced labour and death marches, but strongly
denies it had a genocidal purpose. Canada formally acknowledged the
genocide in 2004, for example, and as recently as 2013 a Turkish
ambassador to Ottawa said it remains an obstacle to trade.
In the Turkish capital Ankara, diplomats summoned the Vatican
ambassador to express displeasure, and released a statement expressing
"great disappointment and sadness."
"The Pope's statement, which is out of touch with both historical
facts and legal basis, is simply unacceptable," Foreign Minister
Mevlut Cavusoglu tweeted.
"Religious offices are not places through which hatred and animosity
are fuelled by unfounded allegations."
Armenia holds a special place in the Christian historical imagination,
as the first nation to officially adopt Christianity as a state
religion in 301 AD, beating the Roman Empire by almost a century.
"By drawing attention to (the Armenian genocide), I think Francis is
underlying that broader concern he has that Christians all over the
world today, and in the past, are suffering for their faith," he said.
"I think he's doing this quite deliberately. He's not just shooting
offat the mouth. I think he realizes he can use the media to promote
things that are close to his heart."
He noted that Francis was recently in Turkey and did not make similar
comments then, which "would have been catastrophic." !@COPYRIGHT=©
2015 Postmedia Network Inc. All rights reserved.
GRAPHIC: Gregorio Borgia, The Associated Press; Pope Francis is
greeted by the head of Armenia's Orthodox Church, Karekin II, during
an Armenian-Rite Mass in St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, on
Sunday. The pontiff called the slaughter of Armenians by Ottoman Turks
"the first genocide of the 20th century" and urged the international
community to recognize it as such, sparking a diplomatic rift with
Turkey.;
From: A. Papazian