The Armenian Genocide

While surfing through Catholic blogosphere for details about the Holy Father's visit to Turkey, I came to what is perhaps the snarkiest, purportedly "Catholic" blog, rich in ostentatious piety but poor as far as civility and charity go. In spite of such drawbacks, I saw the mention of "Christians persecuted in Turkey," and it reminded me of the Armenian holocaust of the early twentieth century, in which two million died. The genocide perpetrated by the Moslem Turks upon the mostly Catholic Armenians during the breakdown of the Ottoman Empire is largely forgotten. It was, however, the first mass murder of the twentieth century, a century which was to see plenty of mass killing. Armenia adapted Christianity in 301 AD, becoming the first nation to do so. The Armenians have a long tradition of suffering and martyrdom. Theirs is part of the woundedness of the land where the Vicar of Christ has gone as a true Shepherd. Share