Pope Francis leading a Holy Mass on the centenary of the Armenian Genocide.
A Holy Mass for the faithful of the Armenian Rite took place at St. Peter’s Basilica on April 12, led by His Holiness Pope Francis. During his message, Pope Francis said that the slaughter of the Armenian people by Ottoman Turkey was the first genocide of the 20th century.
There had been much debate whether Pope Francis would use the word genocide during the Divine Liturgy dedicated to the centenary of the Armenian Genocide.
According to the Associated Press, Turkey’s embassy to the Holy See canceled plans to hold a news conference on Sunday after learning that the Pope would indeed use the word genocide. Turkey’s foreign affairs ministry summoned its envoy to the Vatican and then announced that it was recalling its ambassador to the Vatican for consultations.
Turkey’s MFA issued a statement where it said that the people of Turkey would not recognize the pope’s statement “which 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.”
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu tweeted “The Pope’s statement, which is out of touch with both historical facts and legal basis is simply unacceptable,” and then: “Religious offices are not places through which hatred and animosity are fueled by unfounded allegations.”
The Pope’s statement, which is out of touch with both historical facts and legal basis, is simply unacceptable. +++
— Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu (@MevlutCavusoglu) April 12, 2015
During the mass, which was being live streamed, Pope Francis said, “Concealing or denying evil is like allowing a wound to keep bleeding without bandaging it.”
AP wrote that Pope Francis, who has close ties to the Armenian community in Argentina, defended his pronouncement by saying it was his duty to honor the memory of the innocent men, women and children who were “senselessly” murdered by Ottoman Turks.
According to the BBC, Pope Francis was likely to know that he would offend Turkey, a ‘moderate’ Muslim country by using the word genocide. “It now remains to be seen how far his remarks will impact upon the Vatican’s future relations with moderate Muslim states. It was a bold decision but totally coherent with Pope Francis’ philosophy of open discussion about moral arguments,” the BBC wrote.
