“We extend our prayer to Almighty God with the intercession of the Holy Apostles and all the witnesses of the Lord, for peace in the world, a prosperous and secure life for humanity and for the vibrancy of the holy Church of Christ. Your Holiness, our dear brother in Christ, your visit to Gyumri is a spiritual renewal for the faithful of the region of Shirak, and it shall always be remembered with warmth and love. Again with a joyous heart we reaffirm that your visit is a new testimony to the fraternal relationship between our churches.”

“Here I pray with pain in my heart, so that never more will there be tragedies like this, so that humanity does not forget and knows how to overcome the evil with good. May God grant the beloved Armenian people and the entire world peace and consolation. May God protect the memory of the Armenian people. Memory should not be diluted or forgotten. Memory is source of peace and the future,” Pope Francis wrote.

“Firstly, it seems to me that the resolution was conditioned by the fear of the British from migration crisis, threat of which really exists, ordinary citizens are afraid that Brussels will dictate its will to ordinary citizens, this is a crucial circumstance. That is, the British expressed in favor of sovereignty of their own country.”

He stated that Pope Francis attempts to see Ararat from all the places, as it’s a global symbol, a “rainbow of peace.” According to Federico Lombardi Pope Francis will reveal importance of Armenia and Armenians for the many.

The Pope had confirmed all the texts; he had said “This is the one I am going to pronounce”. We have always provided you with the texts of his speeches, but we always said that the Pope can always change even the entire text in the last moment. We provide you with the text and urge you to be attentive, as he can give a surprise at any moment. This times the Pope decided to add that word,” Lombardi clarified.

“For Armenia, faith in Christ has not been like a garment to be donned or doffed as circumstances or convenience dictate, but an essential part of its identity, a gift of immense significance, to be accepted with joy, preserved with great effort and strength, even at the cost of life itself,” he said.

The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said Francis always speaks of the need for reconciliation and that his declaration of a genocide must be taken in the context of recognizing a past horror to then move on in friendship and reconciliation. Lombardi denied that the Vatican’s diplomatic speechwriters had intentionally left the word out, saying they had intentionally left it up to the pope to decide what to say.

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”.

Most non-Turkish scholars of the events regard them as genocide. Among the other states which formally recognise them as genocide are Argentina, Belgium, Canada, France, Italy, Russia and Uruguay.

“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.