SW News: In a warm ecumenical gesture, the Catholic Church in Spain unveiled a monument in memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide. On the premises of the church of Santa Maria Reina in Barcelona, a Khachkar (an Armenian stone tablet engraved with a traditional cross having motifs such as rosettes and interlaces) was blessed and unveiled on Sunday, October 3.
The solemn event of anointing was performed by Bishop Tatev Hakobyan, the Primate of the Romanian Diocese of the Armenian Church. The ceremony was attended by the Ambassador of Armenia in Spain, Vladimir Karmirshalyan, and diplomats, Pontifical Legate of Western Europe and Representative of the Armenian Church to the Holy See Khajag Barsamian, and other dignitaries. Before the commencement of the ceremony, Archbishop Barsamian celebrated Holy Mass. A large number of Armenian Christians also took part in the unveiling of the monument.
The Armenian Genocide was an organized massacre of about one million ethnic Armenians under the Ottman empire during World War I. Reports state that the Genocide was a deliberate attempt to completely wipe out the Armenian people. On April 24, 1915, hundreds of Armenian intellectuals and leaders were arrested, rounded up, and deported from Constantinople. Around 800,000 to 1.2 million Armenian women, children, and elderly were forcefully displaced and sent on death marches. They were deprived of food and water and were mistreated by the authorities of the Ottoman government.
On April 24, 2021, Armenians across the world commemorated the 106th Anniversary of the massacre. Almost a dozen countries, hundreds of local government bodies, and international organizations have already recognized the massacre of 1.5 million Armenians as a Genocide. Turkey still denies it to this day. His Holiness Pope Francis also declared the mass killing of Armenians as "the first genocide of the 20th century".