Pope Francis once again described the massacres of Armenians under Ottoman Turkish rule in 1915-1923 as genocide.

Speaking about the mass, served on April 12, 2015 to commemorate the Armenian Genocide centennial, he said that the liturgy commemorated “the centenary of the Metz Yeghérn, the “Great Evil” that struck your people and caused the death of a vast multitude of persons.”

“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,” Francis said.

He made the remarks as he visited the Armenian capital, Yerevan.

Francis, never one to shy from speaking his mind, added the word in at the last minute in a speech at the presidential palace to President Serzh Sargsyan, Armenian political and religious leaders and the diplomatic corps, The New York Times said.