Your trusted source

Members of Southern California’s Armenian American community on Sunday lauded Pope Francis, calling him “courageous” for his recognition of the mass killings of Armenians a century ago under the Ottoman Empire as genocide, Los Angeles Times reported.

“As far as the Armenian American Community is concerned, the pope has taken a courageous stand despite the threats from the republic of Turkey,” said Glendale Mayor Zareh Sinanyan, whose city has been a haven for Armenians for generations.

Sinanyan said Turkey’s denial of the genocide and the United States’ refusal to acknowledge it has not allowed Armenians to move on from the killings.

He said the pope’s statements on Sunday were powerful.

“When people with high public profiles like the pope are not only using the word “genocide” but actually holding the Mass in the Vatican dedicated to the victims ... that resonates in the Armenian American community,” he said.

Speaking before a Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica to mark the centenary of the killings, Francis defined the slaughter of as many as 1.5 million Armenians as “the first genocide of the 20th century,” quoting a statement made by Pope John Paul II in 2001.

“The remaining two were perpetrated by Nazism and Stalinism,” he said. "And more recently there have been other mass killings, like those in Cambodia, Rwanda, Burundi and Bosnia.”

In response, Turkey summoned the Vatican’s ambassador to the country to complain about Francis’ remarks. It also recalled its ambassador to the Vatican over the incident, according to the Associated Press.

Sinanyan said he hopes the pope’s statements will encourage the U.S. to “stop playing politics” and acknowledge the genocide. He said he hopes that President Obama will do so as well. “I’m really hoping that he will really take a courageous step and do what’s right,” he said.

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank), who is the lead sponsor of the proposed Armenian Genocide Truth and Justice Resolution in Congress, said in a statement he hopes that “the pope's words will inspire our President and Congress to demonstrate a like commitment to speaking the truth about the Armenian Genocide and to renounce Turkey's campaign of concealment and denial.

"America must speak plainly about the facts of what happened one hundred years ago, when in the throes of defeat, the Ottoman Empire murdered one and a half million Armenian men, women and children. With the centennial of the genocide fast approaching, and with a few survivors still among us, the time for inexcusable silence has come to an end."

In a statement, Montebello Mayor Jack Hadjinian, who became the city’s first Armenian American mayor in last November’s election and is the grandchild of a genocide survivor, said, “I am comforted by the words of Pope Francis and his courage to stand on the side of truth and human rights. His words go beyond the political and offer healing and possibility for the Armenians who had to suffer decades of denial and transgenerational trauma from the Turkish Government.

“The fact that Turkey recalled its envoy from Rome proves that they are not working hard enough to push their propaganda and take responsibility for crimes against humanity. With Turkey’s continued denial, the cycle of genocide continues and allows for these heinous crimes to happen again in the world."