Pope: “Terrible persecution” of Armenians lingers in history
20 March, 2006
AsiaNews
VATICAN
Vatican City (AsiaNews) – “Metz yeghèrn, the great evil”: this is what Armenians still call the genocide they suffered in the years of the First World War, at the hands of the then Ottoman Empire. The phrase was repeated by Benedict XVI when he received Nerses Bedros XIX Tarmouni, Patriarch of Cilicia for Armenians, who was accompanied by members of the Patriarchal Synod. He talked about the “great persecution” at the roots of the diaspora of that people, and also about the division which persists among Armenian Christians, expressing the hope that it will soon be overcome.
“The Armenian Church that refers to the Patriarchate of Cilicia (in Lebanon n.d.r.), is certainly a full participant of historical events lived by the Armenian people throughout the centuries and, especially, of the suffering they bore in the name of the Christian faith in the years of the terrible persecution which remains known in history by the sadly significant name of metz yeghèrn, the great evil. How can one not remember, in this regard, the many invitations sent by Leo XIII to Catholics, to go to the rescue of the poverty and suffering of the Armenian peoples?”
Benedict XVI continued: “The Armenians, who have always sought to integrate themselves with their industriousness and dignity in the societies where they found themselves, continue to bear witness to their faithfulness to the Gospel still today.” This is a fidelity that is also a “strong attachment, sometimes even to the point of martyrdom, which your Community has always shown towards the See of Peter, in a reciprocal and fertile relationship of faith and affection”.
[...]
Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.
AsiaNews
VATICAN
Vatican City (AsiaNews) – “Metz yeghèrn, the great evil”: this is what Armenians still call the genocide they suffered in the years of the First World War, at the hands of the then Ottoman Empire. The phrase was repeated by Benedict XVI when he received Nerses Bedros XIX Tarmouni, Patriarch of Cilicia for Armenians, who was accompanied by members of the Patriarchal Synod. He talked about the “great persecution” at the roots of the diaspora of that people, and also about the division which persists among Armenian Christians, expressing the hope that it will soon be overcome.
“The Armenian Church that refers to the Patriarchate of Cilicia (in Lebanon n.d.r.), is certainly a full participant of historical events lived by the Armenian people throughout the centuries and, especially, of the suffering they bore in the name of the Christian faith in the years of the terrible persecution which remains known in history by the sadly significant name of metz yeghèrn, the great evil. How can one not remember, in this regard, the many invitations sent by Leo XIII to Catholics, to go to the rescue of the poverty and suffering of the Armenian peoples?”
Benedict XVI continued: “The Armenians, who have always sought to integrate themselves with their industriousness and dignity in the societies where they found themselves, continue to bear witness to their faithfulness to the Gospel still today.” This is a fidelity that is also a “strong attachment, sometimes even to the point of martyrdom, which your Community has always shown towards the See of Peter, in a reciprocal and fertile relationship of faith and affection”.
[...]
Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.
posted by Vahe Balabanian at 11:45 AM
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