Walter Russell Mead
Pope Francis set off a diplomatic storm yesterday when he referred to the genocide
of the Armenians at a service in St. Peter’s Basilica this weekend. The
Turkish Foreign Ministry denounced the remarks as baseless and unfair,
and summoned the Vatican’s Turkish representative to appear for a tongue
lashing.
By the standards of Vatican diplomacy, this was an explosion.
Conscious of the vulnerability of Christian minorities around the world,
popes are usually circumspect when touching on controversial diplomatic
topics. Francis’ words will certainly provoke a harsh response from
Turkey where, despite very slow and painful progress at coming to grips
with the legacy of violence and persecution that shaped modern Turkey,
it remains illegal to refer to the Armenian massacres as a genocide.
