Vatican commemorated Armenian Genocide victims

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Armenian Genocide victims were commemorated in Vatican. Representatives of the Armenian community of Rome and Papal Armenian Board offered up a prayer at the khachkar which was gifted to Pope John Paul II by Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin I in 1996, Polish Gazeta Wyborcza reports.



John Paul II was the Pope who recognized and condemned that Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire. During his visit to Yerevan in 2001 he said in Tsitsernakaberd, "God, hear the voice of the Bishop of Rome, calling up the prayer of one of his predecessors, Benedict XV, who advocated the suffering and nearly annihilated Armenian people. The 20th century was marked with manifestations of violence. The Armenian Genocide, which initiated the year, has become the prologue of horrifying crimes committed during the whole century. Recognition of the Armenian Genocide is essential not only for Armenians but also for the whole humanity," IA Regnum reports.