The Armenian Genocide

Perhaps you have never heard of the Armenian Genocide! Whether we have personal knowledge of historical events or not or perhaps deny that they ever happened, it does not mean that they can be erased or vanished. We know that genocide is the deliberate killing of a large group of people which is usually and mostly relevant to ethnicity. The Armenian Genocide was a very real occurrence in history. I personally just recently became aware of this atrocity, even though it took place a hundred years ago in Turkey. Most of us know about the holocaust in which Hitler killed millions of human beings, mostly Jews, even though there are still some that want to deny that this also ever happened. Well, the Armenian Genocide is perhaps a 20^th century precursor to the holocaust in which more than a million Armenians were killed by the Ottoman government between 1915 and 1923, actually by 1918 more than a million had already been killed. If you wish to be more informed on this human history event, you can contact the Armenian National Institute in Washington, DC or visit the following link:

Armenian Genocide

Of course, you may ask me why it is I am writing about this on an ecumenism blog. My response is very simple and brief.  Pope Francis recently brought up this genocide and definitely raised awareness almost instantly!  Also, the WCC (World Council of Churches) Executive Committee released a statement on the Armenian Genocide on June 11th, 2015. In fact, the statement by the WCC was a warning read aloud and in a public service of remembrance by Dr Agnes Abuom in Yerevan on June 10th, 2015. The WCC said: “Denial, impunity and the failure to remember such events encourage their repetition (www.oikoumene.org).” You can get the full article for this WCC statement at the following link:

WCC Executive Committee releases statement on Armenian genocide — World Council of Churches

References:

http://www.armenian-genocide.org/genocide.html

http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/12/europe/pope-francis-turkey-armenia-genocide-reference/

https://www.oikoumene.org/en/press-centre/news/wcc-executive-committee-releases-statement-on-armenian-genocide