Pope Francis Visits Armenia; Invites Refugees to Join Him during Weekly Audience

02-600In a continued effort to strengthen interfaith relations, Pope Francis is visiting Armenia this weekend (June 24-26). Francis is spending much of his time as a guest of the Armenian Apostolic Church. He is also visiting a monument dedicated to the estimated 1.5 million Armenians killed by Ottoman Turks starting in 1915. Last year, Francis reignited a diplomatic dispute with Turkey after he labeled the killings “the first genocide of the 20th century.” Earlier this week (June 22), Francis invited a dozen refugees to join him on the steps of St. Peter’s Basilica during his weekly general audience. In his remarks, he said Christians exclude no one. Francis has been urging Europe to welcome more refugees. In April, he brought a dozen Syrian refugees to Rome after his visit to Greece.

Terms of Use | Privacy Policy

Funding for RELIGION & ETHICS NEWSWEEKLY is provided by Lilly Endowment. Additional funding is provided by individual supporters and Mutual of America Life Insurance Company.

Produced by THIRTEEN    ©2015 WNET. All rights reserved.

X