International Media on Pope Francis's Visit to the First Christian Country

• 06.27.2016, 18:48
•  World,  Armenia

Leading international media covered the visit of Pope Francis to Armenia. Pope’s speech about the Armenian Genocide and his visit to Tsitsernakaberd are among the highlights.

The German press in particular again underlined the importance of calling the Armenian massacres a genocide, adopting a resolution on the genocide in the Bundestag against the background of Turkey’s response that followed the Bundestag’s vote.

"Everybody’s nerves were strained to see what word the Pope will use while referring to the persecution of Armenians . He used the word genocide and called on the Armenian-Turkish reconciliation," Die Zeit writes.

"The fact that Pope Francis ad-libbed the politically charged word "genocide" to his prepared text, listing the 1915 Armenian genocide alongside the Holocaust and Stalinism as the three great mass slaughters of the 20th century" is also highlighted in the article by Associated Press called "Pope at Armenia Genocide Memorial: Never Forget or Minimized".

Deutsche Welle also notes that the Pope was not afraid to stir anger of Ankara. "The Pope confirmed his position he stated last year about the Armenian massacres in the Ottoman Empire and again condemned the genocide. The pope decided to add the word genocide to the text of his speech, despite Ankara's objections. Thus, he ignored the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ‘threats’, who in April of 2015 warned him not to make "such mistakes again," writes the publication.

The New York Times wrote that "Turkey rejects the term, saying the 1.5 million death figure cited by historians is inflated and that people died on both sides as the Ottoman Empire collapsed amid World War I."

''The visit of the Pope to Tsitsernakaberd Memorial was a visit of peace . He did not say a word, just kept praying . He expressed his opinion about the Armenian Genocide a day before , citing a large number of victims,"  the Deutschlandfunk writes.

"In a largely Orthodox land where Catholics are a minority, Armenians have seemed genuinely honored to welcome a pope who has long championed the Armenian cause from his time as an archbishop in Argentina and now as leader of the 1.2-billion strong Catholic Church,"  The Independent wrote.

"Until the last moment it was not clear, if the Pope will say the word genocide or not. The word genocide was missing in the text of his speech, but he said it on the first day of his visit and told the world not to forget about the Armenian Genocide," the Voice of America wrote.

German Tagesspiegel in turn emphasized the importance of the Pope's visit to Gyumri.

"The mass that the Pope served in Gyumri was a great event for the Armenian believers. Pope in his prayer recalled the devastating earthquake of 1988 and the city that has revived," writes the newspaper.

''ABC News'', ''Townhall'', ''Fox News'', ''Al Jazeera'', ''Daily Mail'', ''Wall Street Journal'' , ''Reuters'', ''CNN'' and many other leading international media also covered the visit of Pope Francis to Armenia.