Pope Benedict XVI met with Patriarch of Armenian Catholic Church Nerses Petros XIX. In the words of the Pontiff, the Armenian people «suffered horrible prosecution for the sake of the Christian fate, which were included in the history as Great Slaughter. At that the Pope refrained from word «genocide.» Predecessor of Benedict XVI John Paul II used the word «genocide», without specifying which country has committed the Armenian Genocide, reports the Associated Press, noting that Armenia is the first country, which adopted Christianity as official religion in 301.