Pope Francis has called the killing of Armenians by the Ottoman Turks “the first genocide of the 20th century,” as media reports emerge that Turkish leaders tried to stop him saying it.
The Pope said it was his duty to honour the memory of the innocent men, women, children, priests and bishops who were "senselessly slaughtered" by Ottoman Turks in 1915.
"It is necessary, and indeed a duty, to honour their memory, for whenever memory fades, it means that evil allows wounds to fester. Concealing or denying evil is like allowing a wound to keep bleeding without bandaging it," he said at the start of a Sunday Mass in St. Peter's Basilica honouring the centenary.
The move comes after the Turkish media suggested that Turkey has been working behind the scenes to discourage Francis from using the term genocide at today's mass.
Turkish leaders have also allegedly led another campaign to stop the papal Mass being celebrated on the actual anniversary of the killings, 24 April.
The Pope has close ties to the Armenian community from his days in Argentina, and defended his pronouncement by citing the estimate made by historians that up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Ottoman Turks around the time of World War I, an event widely viewed by scholars as the first genocide of the 20th century.
Turkey, however, refuses to call it a genocide and has insisted that the toll has been inflated; Turkey's embassy to the Holy See cancelled a planned news conference later today.
The Armenians have been campaigning for greater recognition of the genocide in the lead-up to the centenary, which will be formally marked on 24 April.
Sunday's Mass was also celebrated by the Armenian Catholic patriarch, Nerses Bedros XIX Tarmouni, and was attended by Armenian Orthodox church leaders as well as Armenian President, Serzh Sargsyan.
Pope Francis honoured the Armenian community at the start of the Mass by pronouncing a 10th-century Armenian mystic, St. Gregory of Narek, a doctor of the church.
Additional reporting - PA/Reuters
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Papa Francis ameita mauaji ya Waarmeni na Waotomani kuwa mauaji ya kwanza ya ukatili wa kibinadamu katika karne ya 20, baada ya viongozi wa Uturuki kumzuia kusema hivyo. "Papa Francis amesema ni wajibu wake kuwaheshimu wanaume, wanawake, watoto, makasisi na maaskofu wasio na hatia ambao waliuawa ""kwa njia isiyo na maana"" na Waotomani mwaka 1915." """Ni muhimu, na kwa kweli ni wajibu, kuheshimu kumbukumbu yao, kwa sababu wakati wowote kumbukumbu inapozimia, inamaanisha kwamba uovu huruhusu majeraha kuharibika." "Kuficha au kukataa uovu ni kama kuruhusu jeraha kuendelea kutokwa na damu bila kuufunga,"" alisema katika mwanzo wa Misa ya Jumapili katika Kanisa la St. Peter's Basilica kuheshimu miaka mia moja ya kuzaliwa kwa Yesu." "Hatua hiyo ilitokea baada ya vyombo vya habari vya Uturuki kusisitiza kwamba Uturuki imekuwa ikifanya kazi nyuma ya pazia ili kumzuia Francis kutumia neno ""mauaji ya kimbari"" katika misa ya leo." "Kama ilivyoelezwa, viongozi wa Uturuki wamekuwa wakiongoza kampeni nyingine ya kuzuia Misa ya Papa kusherehekewa katika maadhimisho ya mauaji hayo, Aprili 24.""" Papa Francis ameelezea uhusiano wake na jamii ya Armenia katika siku zake nchini Argentina, akitoa uthibitisho wa kuwa karibu watu milioni 1.5 waliuawa na Wa-Ottoman wakati wa Vita Kuu ya Kwanza ya Dunia, tukio ambalo linachukuliwa na wasomi kuwa mauaji ya kwanza ya kimbari ya karne ya 20. Uturuki imekataa kuitisha tukio hilo kuwa mauaji ya kimbari na imedai kuwa idadi ya watu waliouawa imeongezeka; balozi ya Uturuki katika makao makuu ya kanisa hilo imefutilia mbali mkutano wa waandishi wa habari uliopangwa kufanyika baadaye leo. Armenia imekuwa ikifanya kampeni ya kutaka kutambuliwa zaidi kwa mauaji ya kimbari kabla ya maadhimisho ya miaka mia moja, ambayo yatasherehekewa rasmi Aprili 24. Mtakatifu Mtakatifu Nerses Bedros-Termuni, ambaye ni Mkatoliki wa Armenia, alishiriki katika ibada hiyo ya Jumapili, na viongozi wa Kanisa la Orthodox la Armenia na Rais wa Armenia Serzh Sargsyan. Papa Francisko alisherehekea jamii ya Kiarmenia kwa kumtangaza Mtakatifu Gregory wa Narek, msomi wa karne ya 10 wa Kiarmenia, kuwa daktari wa kanisa. Kujiunga na mazungumzo ya kuchochea mawazo, fuata wasomaji wengine wa kujitegemea na uone majibu yao