POPE RECALLS ARMENIAN ‘MARTYRDOM,’ AVOIDING ‘GENOCIDE’ TERM
arminfo
2008-05-12 17:51:00
ArmInfo. Pope Benedict XVI on Friday recalled the "martyrdom" of
the Armenian Apostolic Church during a visit by its leader Karekin
II, avoiding the word "genocide" pronounced several times by his
predecessor John Paul II.
As AFP reports from Vatican, Karekin II, on the fourth and final
day of a visit to the Vatican, had on Wednesday urged "all nations
to universally denounce the Armenian genocide" in a speech to some
20,000 people gathered in St Peter’s Square. On Friday, however, the
pope said: "The recent history of the Armenian Apostolic Church has
been written in the contrasting colours of persecution and martyrdom,
darkness and hope, humiliation and spiritual rebirth. The restoration
of freedom to the Church in Armenia has been a source of great joy
for us all", the 81-year-old pontiff added.
The source recalls that in November 2000, a meeting at the Vatican
between John Paul II and Karekin II ended with a joint statement
condemning the Armenian "genocide. The following year, at Karekin
II’s invitation, the Polish pope travelled to Armenia where the two
religious leaders again spoke of "the extermination of one-and-a-half
million Armenian Christians in what is generally called the first
genocide of the 20th century.
The source reports that Karekin II invited Benedict XVI to visit
Armenia both in his own name and on behalf of new President Serzh
Sarkisian.