Pope Francis on Sunday, June 26 said that he knew no word to describe the annihilation of Armenians other than “genocide” until he was elected as the head of the Roman Catholic Church.
On his way back from a three-day-visit to Armenia, the pope was asked about his U-turn decision to pronounce the term genocide during a reception with Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, RIA reports.
“When referring to the destruction of the Armenian people, we used the term genocide in Argentina and installed a khachkar at the Buenos Aires Cathedral to commemorate the Armenian Genocide,” Francis said.
“Arriving in Rome, I heard the expression “the great evil” and was told that the term genocide was offensive. But I have always cited the three major genocides of the 20th century: The Armenian Genocide, that of Hitler and Stalin’s genocide.”
“When I was preparing for the holy mass last year (on April 12 when Francis commemorated the centennial of the Armenian Genocide – PAN), I found out that Saint John Paul II had earlier used that word and decided to cite him,” the pontiff said.
“It was not greeted well, with Turkey denouncing my decision and recalling its ambassador to the Vatican who, however, returned several months later.”
“I hadn’t initially included that word in my speech during a visit to the country, by after hearing the tone of the Armenian President’s speech, it would sound very strange if I did not repeat what I said a year ago,” he added.
Francis spent three days in Armenia from June 24 to June 26.