Pope Francis used the word “genocide” to characterize the Armenian suffering which occurred a century ago. His rightful characterization is in danger of causing a rift in diplomatic relations with Turkey.

The progressive Pope made these statements shortly before a church liturgy to honor the memory of the Armenians slaughtered between 1915 and 1917, which he carried out alongside the Armenian Catholic Patriarch and the country’s President.

Even though the Pope had used the term in 2000 in a memo, it is the first time that he publically utters the word “genocide”.