Patriarch Kirill: Armenian Genocide of 1915 cannot be wiped from memory of people

Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill has called all Christians to unite to protect the coreligionists in order the Christians everywhere in the world feel themselves safe.  

The Patriarch said the Russians take the destiny of the Armenian people close to heart, as the history of the two nations has been closely intertwined. “Therefore we feel solidarity, mutual love and support… We must work together for the sake of the Christians in the Middle East and elsewhere in the world. They should feel safe, confident and have a right to be who they are. The Christian solidarity must develop,” the Patriarch of Russia said at his meeting with Patriarch of the Armenian Catholic Church Nerses Bedros XIX.

He said the Armenian Genocide of the early 20th century cannot be wiped from the memory of people, as it may repeat. “We live in times when Christians in the Middle East, North Africa and some other regions have run the risk of extermination only because of being Christians,” the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church said, RIA Novosti reports.

His Holiness Kirill said 100 years have passed since the tragedy of the Armenian people, and now there is again need to fight for the rights of the people and their religious freedom.

Armenia marked the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey on April 24 2015. The fact of the Armenian Genocide has been recognized by the following countries: Bolivia, Chile, Sweden, Austria, Lithuania, Poland, Venezuela, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Switzerland, Italy, Vatican City, Greece, France, Belgium, Lebanon, Canada, Russia, Cyprus, Uruguay, the European Parliament, the Council of Europe, the 46 states of America and others. Turkey still denies the Armenian Genocide.