14.11.2000, MEDIAMAX, YEREVAN. Turkish Armenian Patriarch Mesrop Mutafian II criticized a joint declaration by Pope John Paul II and Armenian Patriarch Garegin II, saying he found it peculiar, the Anatolia news agency reported.
In a written statement, Mesrop II said that he had not attended the meeting of Pope John Paul II and Garegin II in Rome, although he was invited to it, since he had not seen the text of the declaration before the meeting.
“Our primary wish was that the Rome meeting should not contain political elements but should be solely a religious one constituting a forum for inter-church dialogue. Unfortunately, I see that the declaration is far from this, and I want to make clear that I see it as peculiar “, the statement says.
Turkish Armenian Patriarch also said that the main duty of the Church should be to create an atmosphere of mutual respect where people can engage in a dialogue. “The role of clerics should be to carry our rich past into today, rather than tell our young generations about our tragic history,” he concluded.
The joint declaration by Pope John Paul II and Armenian Patriarch Garegin II, issued on November 10, says: “The 20th century was marked by extreme violence. The Armenian genocide, which began the century, was a prologue to horrors that would follow”. Thus, Vatican in fact recognized the genocide of Armenians of 1915. -0-
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