Tweet
ARMENIAN ARCHBISHOP IN ARGENTINA PROUD OF POPE
10:19, 23 Apr 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan
Associated Press - The head of the Armenian Apostolic Church in
Argentina says he is proud, but definitely not surprised, that his
friend Pope Francis recently called the 1915 mass killing of Armenians
in Turkey "genocide."
Archbishop Kissag Mouradian says he developed a friendship with the
pope when Jorge Mario Bergoglio was the Roman Catholic archbishop of
Buenos Aires in the 1990s. In private conversations and in public,
Mouradian says, Bergoglio expressed support for the strong conviction
of Armenians worldwide that the mass slayings constituted genocide,
which Turkey denies.
Bergoglio often celebrated Mass "recognizing the martyrs (of the
Armenian massacre), so we can say that we always knew what his stance
was," Mouradian told The Associated Press in an interview Wednesday
at the Armenian Cathedral in Buenos Aires.
During a Mass this month commemorating the 100th anniversary of
the bloodshed that many scholars estimate killed around 1.5 million
Armenians, Francis called it "the first genocide of the 20th century."
"Concealing or denying evil is like allowing a wound to keep bleeding
without bandaging it," Francis said St. Peter's Basilica on April 12.
Turkey has long held that the death estimate is inflated and says that
those killed were victims of civil war and unrest, not genocide. The
Turkish government reacted strongly to the pope's comments, recalling
its ambassador to the Vatican and accusing Francis of spreading hate
and unfounded claims.
"I do not often say it in a loud voice, but in this case I really
did feel a deep inner pride that my friend could do such a thing,"
Mouradian said of the pope's comments.
Mouradian said Bergoglio had a strong relationship with many Armenians
in Argentina, which is estimated to be home to about 120,000 ethnic
Armenians, many of whose ancestors fled Turkey after the killings.
"We are not just leaders of churches or religions, we are two friends,"
said Mouradian, who has a picture with the pope in his office.
http://www.armradio.am/en/2015/04/23/armenian-archbishop-in-argentina-proud-of-pope/
10:19, 23 Apr 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan
Associated Press - The head of the Armenian Apostolic Church in
Argentina says he is proud, but definitely not surprised, that his
friend Pope Francis recently called the 1915 mass killing of Armenians
in Turkey "genocide."
Archbishop Kissag Mouradian says he developed a friendship with the
pope when Jorge Mario Bergoglio was the Roman Catholic archbishop of
Buenos Aires in the 1990s. In private conversations and in public,
Mouradian says, Bergoglio expressed support for the strong conviction
of Armenians worldwide that the mass slayings constituted genocide,
which Turkey denies.
Bergoglio often celebrated Mass "recognizing the martyrs (of the
Armenian massacre), so we can say that we always knew what his stance
was," Mouradian told The Associated Press in an interview Wednesday
at the Armenian Cathedral in Buenos Aires.
During a Mass this month commemorating the 100th anniversary of
the bloodshed that many scholars estimate killed around 1.5 million
Armenians, Francis called it "the first genocide of the 20th century."
"Concealing or denying evil is like allowing a wound to keep bleeding
without bandaging it," Francis said St. Peter's Basilica on April 12.
Turkey has long held that the death estimate is inflated and says that
those killed were victims of civil war and unrest, not genocide. The
Turkish government reacted strongly to the pope's comments, recalling
its ambassador to the Vatican and accusing Francis of spreading hate
and unfounded claims.
"I do not often say it in a loud voice, but in this case I really
did feel a deep inner pride that my friend could do such a thing,"
Mouradian said of the pope's comments.
Mouradian said Bergoglio had a strong relationship with many Armenians
in Argentina, which is estimated to be home to about 120,000 ethnic
Armenians, many of whose ancestors fled Turkey after the killings.
"We are not just leaders of churches or religions, we are two friends,"
said Mouradian, who has a picture with the pope in his office.
http://www.armradio.am/en/2015/04/23/armenian-archbishop-in-argentina-proud-of-pope/