YEREVAN: Pope Francis began a three-day visit to Armenia on Friday, just over a year after he enraged Turkey by using the term genocide to describe the mass killings of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire.
The pontiff’s 14th overseas trip since his 2013 election is expected to see him highlight Vatican concern over instability, conflict and the plight of Christians in the war-torn Middle East, which has seen Armenia take in many refugees.
But his visit will also be closely followed in Ankara, which rejects the idea that a genocide took place during World War I and has accused international powers of using disputed history as a means of bullying Turkey.
On his way to Yerevan, Francis told reporters that Britain’s decision to exit the European Union means Europe must bear “great responsibility” to ensure the well-being of its population.
“The people’s will has been expressed,” Francis said. “This requires of us great responsibility to ensure the well-being of the people of Great Britain, as well as well-being and coexistence of the whole European continent.”
Francis is the second pope to visit Armenia since it re-emerged as an independent state from the ashes of the Soviet Union.
John Paul II went there in 2001 to attend celebrations marking 1,700 years of the adoption of Christianity in Armenia, which was the first country to have the faith as its state religion.
John Paul was also the first pope to recognize the slaughter of Armenians as genocide, although he did so only in writing.
Francis pronounced the word during a mass at St. Peter’s last year, winning great praise from Armenians at the cost of infuriating Turkey, which withdrew its ambassador in protest.
The pontiff’s 14th overseas trip since his 2013 election is expected to see him highlight Vatican concern over instability, conflict and the plight of Christians in the war-torn Middle East, which has seen Armenia take in many refugees.
But his visit will also be closely followed in Ankara, which rejects the idea that a genocide took place during World War I and has accused international powers of using disputed history as a means of bullying Turkey.
On his way to Yerevan, Francis told reporters that Britain’s decision to exit the European Union means Europe must bear “great responsibility” to ensure the well-being of its population.
“The people’s will has been expressed,” Francis said. “This requires of us great responsibility to ensure the well-being of the people of Great Britain, as well as well-being and coexistence of the whole European continent.”
Francis is the second pope to visit Armenia since it re-emerged as an independent state from the ashes of the Soviet Union.
John Paul II went there in 2001 to attend celebrations marking 1,700 years of the adoption of Christianity in Armenia, which was the first country to have the faith as its state religion.
John Paul was also the first pope to recognize the slaughter of Armenians as genocide, although he did so only in writing.
Francis pronounced the word during a mass at St. Peter’s last year, winning great praise from Armenians at the cost of infuriating Turkey, which withdrew its ambassador in protest.
