During the April 2015 Mass, Pope Francis condemned the failure to remember and the act of denial, which he said only kept wounds festering and bleeding. (Source: Armenian Weekly)
From The Armenian Weekly
ANKARA, Turkey (A.W.)—Turkish ambassador to the Vatican, Mehmet Pacaci, returned to his post at the Holy See on Feb. 4, after a ten-month absence following the historic Mass held by Pope Francis in honor of the Centenary of the Armenian Genocide on April 12, 2015.
Turkey summoned the Vatican’s ambassador in Ankara after Pope Francis remembered the Armenian Genocide, spoke about the consequences of forgetting and denial, and proclaimed the Armenian Saint Gregory of Narek a Doctor of the Church, during the April 2015 Mass.
Tanju Bilgic, spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkey, said the decision for the ambassador’s return to the Vatican came after the Holy See praised Turkey’s willingness to open its archives in a statement on Wednesday.
Turkish ambassador to the Vatican, Mehmet Pacacı. (Source: Armenian Weekly)
“[T]he repeated commitment of Turkey to make its archives available to historians and researchers of interested parties in order to arrive jointly at a better understanding of historical events and the pain and suffering endured by all parties, regardless of their religious or ethnic identity, caught up in war and conflict, including the tragic events of 1915, is noted and appreciated. The painful events of history should not be forgotten; instead they require careful examination and reflection so that they may lead to the healing and purification of memory so necessary for reconciliation and forgiveness for individuals and peoples, as St. John Paul II affirmed,â€
