Pope Francis Calls Armenian Slaughter The First Genocide of 20th Century

Pope Francis Calls Armenian Slaughter The First Genocide of 20th Century –

VATICAN CITY, The Associated Press – Pope Francis on Sunday remembered the 100th anniversary of the slaughter of Armenians by calling it “the first genocide of the 20th century,” a politically explosive pronouncement that will certainly anger Turkey.

Francis, who has close ties to the Armenian community from his days in Argentina, defended his pronouncement by saying it was his duty to honor the memory of the innocent men, women, children, priests and bishops who were “senselessly” murdered.

“Concealing or denying evil is like allowing a wound to keep bleeding without bandaging it,” he said at the start of a Mass Sunday in the Armenian Catholic rite in St. Peter’s Basilica honoring the centenary.

Historians estimate that up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Ottoman Turks around the time of World War I, an event widely viewed by genocide scholars as the first genocide of the 20th century.