(Vatican Radio) The Director of the Vatican Press Office has strongly dismissed Turkish accusations that Pope Francis adopted a “Crusades” mentality when he used the word “genocide” to describe the massacre of 1.5 million Armenians a century ago. Fr. Federico Lombardi SJ was answering questions by journalists reporting on the papal journey in Armenia.Listen to the report by Linda Bordoni: The questions pertained to an angry statement late Saturday by Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Nurettin Canikli following the Pope’s use of the word “genocide” when referring to the Ottoman-era slaughter of Armenians.Turkey in fact rejects the term genocide, saying the 1.5 million deaths cited by historians is an inflated figure and that people died on both sides as the Ottoman Empire collapsed amid World War I. Nurettin Canikli called the Pope’s comments ``greatly unfortunate'' and said they bore the hallmarks of the ``mentali...
(Vatican Radio) The Director of the Vatican Press Office has strongly dismissed Turkish accusations that Pope Francis adopted a “Crusades” mentality when he used the word “genocide” to describe the massacre of 1.5 million Armenians a century ago.
Fr. Federico Lombardi SJ was answering questions by journalists reporting on the papal journey in Armenia.
Listen to the report by Linda Bordoni:
The questions pertained to an angry statement late Saturday by Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Nurettin Canikli following the Pope’s use of the word “genocide” when referring to the Ottoman-era slaughter of Armenians.
Turkey in fact rejects the term genocide, saying the 1.5 million deaths cited by historians is an inflated figure and that people died on both sides as the Ottoman Empire collapsed amid World War I.
Nurettin Canikli called the Pope’s comments ``greatly unfortunate'' and said they bore the hallmarks of the ``mentality of the Crusades.''
But responding to Canikli's comments, Fr Lombardi said that nothing in Francis' texts or actions had suggested a Crusades-like mentality or spirit.
“His is a spirit of dialogue”- Lombardi said – “of building peace, of building bridges and not walls.”
“The Pope – he added – is not doing Crusades”, “he has said no words against the Turkish people”.'
And Lombardi underlined the fact that Francis’ three-day visit to the Orthodox nation was one of peace and reconciliation with repeated calls for unity with Armenia’s Oriental Orthodox Church, a visit to the nation’s closed western border with Turkey and a joint declaration with the Apostolic Church leader.
null / Credit: Jill Sauve/UnsplashWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 17, 2024 / 17:00 pm (CNA).Arizona House Republicans blocked two attempts on Wednesday to repeal an 1864 law protecting life at conception.In a near party-line 30-30 vote on Wednesday, House Democrats failed to gain a majority of votes to suspend the Legislature's rules to fast-track a so-called "abortion ban repeal" bill that would have overturned the 1864 pro-life law. Dormant since being invalidated by Roe v. Wade in 1973, the 1864 law protects all unborn life from conception and imposes prison time for those who "provide, supply, or administer" an abortion. This temporarily stalls ongoing efforts to repeal the law, which is set to go into effect in the next 37 days.Debate on the House floor was tense just before the vote as Democrats called the pro-life law "abhorrent" and "archaic." Democratic Rep. Alma Hernandez bashed Republicans, saying that "the fact that we will not even entertain a motion ...
Pope Francis addresses pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square for his Wednesday general audience on April 17, 2024, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican MediaRome Newsroom, Apr 17, 2024 / 09:14 am (CNA).Pope Francis on Wednesday presented the fourth and final cardinal virtue of temperance in his ongoing catechetical series of vices and virtues by noting that temperance itself is crucial for living a happy, balanced life."The gift of the temperate person is therefore balance, a quality as precious as it is rare. Indeed, everything in our world pushes to excess. Instead, temperance combines well with Gospel values such as smallness, discretion, modesty, meekness," the pope said to the faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square on Wednesday. "In a world where many people boast about saying what they think, the temperate person instead prefers to think about what he says," the pope said. "He does not make empty promises but makes commitments to the extent that he can fulfill them."...
null / Credit: Elisa Finocchiaro via Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0)ACI Africa, Apr 17, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).Members of the Africa Christian Professionals Forum (ACPF) have expressed their solidarity with the people of Rwanda as the landlocked central African country marks 30 years since the Rwandan genocide in which an estimated 800,000 people were murdered."The Africa Christian Professionals Forum (ACPF), dedicated to promoting and protecting the sanctity of Life, Family Values, and good governance, extends its solidarity to Rwanda as we commemorate the 30th anniversary of the genocide," officials of the organization said in their Sunday, April 7, statement.ACPF members join "Rwanda's government, her citizens, African Union member states, and the global community in remembering the tragic loss of innocent lives," the statement continued.Recalling the events of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, which lasted approximately 100 days, ACPF officials said: "Thirty years ago, humanity witnessed uns...
