article_snippet.sent: For the deaths, while unfortunate, were part of a long-running war that witnessed casualties on all sides part, previous popes had finessed the genocide question.
article_snippet.sent: John Paul II used the "g" word in 2001, but didn't dare speak the genocide question out loud.
article_snippet.sent: Instead, the genocide question was tucked into a document signed by the former pontiff and the head of the Armenian church, after they had celebrated Mass together.
article_snippet.sent: Vatican watchers were divided about whether Vatican would use the word "genocide.
article_snippet.sent: If Pope Francis had not called the Armenian killings a genocide, particularly at such a high-profile event -- the audience included Armenia's President -- it might have been interpreted as a change in church policy, Reese said.
article_snippet.sent: The fact that Pope quoted John Paul is a sign that he quoted John Paul's downplaying it," Reese said of the Armenian murders.
article_snippet.sent: In a tweet Sunday, Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu called the Pope's use of the word "unacceptable" and "out of touch with both historical facts and legal basis.
highlights_snippet.sent: Previous popes had finessed the question of whether the killing of 1.5 million Armenians was genocide.
  