“That Tragedy, that Genocide was the First of the Deplorable Series of Catastrophes of the Past Century”

Pope Francis again used the term “genocide” during his speech in Armenia,

“Sadly, that tragedy, that genocide, was the first of the deplorable series of catastrophes of the past century, made possible by twisted racial, ideological or religious aims that darkened the minds of the tormentors even to the point of planning the annihilation of entire peoples,” Pope Francis mentioned in his speech at the Presidential Palace.

Delia Gallagher, CNN Vatican correspondent, wrote on her Twitter microblog, that Pope goes off text and refers to Armenian “genocide.” Reuters also touched upon this fact, stating, “In an address to Armenia’s president and the diplomatic corps, Francis used the Armenian term ‘Metz Yeghern’ (the great evil), but then added to his prepared text “that genocide” to refer to what he also called “the first of the deplorable series of catastrophes of the past century”.