"In Argentina, when you spoke of the Armenian extermination, they always used the word 'genocide'. I didn’t know another," said Pope Francis. "At the cathedral in Buenos Aires, we put a stone cross in the third altar on the left, remembering the Armenian Genocide." Pope Francis also said that he often shared Masses with his "Armenian friends" like Archbishop Kissag Mouradian and Bishop Vartan Boghossian. He also recognized that in the original speech the word "genocide" was not written and he added it.
"When I arrived in Rome, I heard another word: 'The Great Evil' or the 'terrible tragedy,' but in Armenian, I don’t know how to say it... and they tell me that no, that that is offensive, that of 'genocide,' and that you must say this," added the Pope, and specified that he had always spoken of three genocides: the one by the Turks, by Hitler and Stalin.
"A lawyer told me this that really interested me: the word 'genocide' is a technical word. It’s a word that has a technicity that it is not a synonym of 'extermination.' You can say extermination, but declaring a 'genocide' brings with it actions of reparation... this is what the lawyer said to me. Last year, when I was preparing the speech, I saw that St John Paul II had used the word, that he used both: Great Evil and genocide. And I cited that one in quotation marks... and it wasn’t received well."
"I was very happy last week when I saw a photograph of President Putin with the two Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents... at least they’re speaking! And also with Turkey and the president of the Republic in his welcoming speech spoke clearly, he had the courage to say: let’s come to an agreement, forgive each other, and look to the future. And this is a great courage for a people who has suffered so much, no? It’s the icon of the Armenian people," concluded Pope Francis.
