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On the 100th anniversary of the slaughter of Armenians, Pope Francis has described the mass killing by the Ottoman Empire as "the first Genocide of the 20th century." The move could strain diplomatic ties with Turkey, Deutsche Welle writes.

Pope Francis addressed the systematic killing, which took place a century ago, during a mass in Saint Peter's Basilica in the Vatican on Sunday. Also attending the mass, which included elements of the Armenian Catholic rite, was Armenian patriarch Nerses Bedros XIX Tarmouni and the country's President Serzh Sargsyan, the news outlet notes.

"In the past century our human family has lived through three massive and unprecedented tragedies. The first, which is widely considered 'the first genocide of the 20th century', struck your own Armenian people," the pontiff said, citing a 2000 statement signed by late pontiff John Paul II and the Armenian patriarch.

It is noted that in the joint statement 15 years ago, Pope John Paul II said "the Armenian genocide, which began the century, was a prologue to horrors that would follow."

"We recall the centenary of that tragic event, that immense and senseless slaughter whose cruelty your forebears had to endure," Francis said on Sunday.

"It is necessary, and indeed a duty, to honor their memory, for whenever memory fades, it means that evil allows wounds to fester," he added.

Related: Pope uses word Genocide to describe mass murder of Armenians