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Pope refrains to use term genocide

26 November 2008 16:56 (UTC +04:00)

Vatican-APA. On November 23, Catholicos of Cilicia, His Holiness Aram I visited Vatican where he met with Pope Benedict XVI, APA reports quoting Panarmenian.
At the audience, at which the Pope was accompanied by Aram I, the pontiff deplored "misunderstandings among Christians". He said the Armenian leaderâ€™s "fraternal visit" is "an occasion to strengthen the bonds that exist and a further step in the journey toward full unity, which is the objective of all Christians and a gift of the Lord."
Pope Benedict XVI did not use the terms of Armenian genocide while speaking about tragedy, which Armenians faced at the beginning of 20th century and it caused anxiety of Aram I. For his part, Aram I said, "Churches, religions and states should recognize all genocides, including the Armenian Genocide, and they should commit themselves to preventing all genocides."
The Vaticanâ€™s stance on this issue was stated during a visit to Armenia by [late Pope] John Paul II. The pope attended the Armenian Genocide memorial and did use the term Genocide.