Pope on visit to Armenia cites 'genocide', likely to anger Turkey


Pope Francis meets Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan (L) in Yerevan's Presidential Palace, Armenia, June 24, 2016. REUTERS/Andrew Medichini/Pool

YEREVAN (Reuters) - Pope Francis departed from his prepared text on Friday to use the word "genocide" to describe the mass killings of Armenians in 1915, a description that infuriated Turkey when he said it a year ago.

In an address to Armenia's president and the diplomatic corps, Francis used the Armenian term 'Metz Yeghern' (the great evil), but then added to his prepared text "that genocide" to refer to what he also called "the first of the deplorable series of catastrophes of the past century".

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