Armenia's efforts to promote greater awareness of the massacre of 1.5 million of its people by Turkey during the fall of the Ottoman empire were given a dramatic boost on April 12 by the pope's description of the atrocities as "the first genocide of the 20th century" - days ahead of the centenary of the event. Pope Francis used a special mass in St Peter's Basilica to mark the anniversary, and referred to "three massive and unprecedented tragedies" of the last century.
The Guardian: Pope boosts Armenia’s efforts to have Ottoman killings recognised as genocide
Pope Francis leaves at the end of an Armenian-Rite Mass marking 100 years since the mass killings of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire, on April 12, 2015 at St Peter's basilica in Vatican.
