Archbishop Zakarian denounces genocide at interfaith summitOctober 29, 2011 - 13:44 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Pope Benedict XVI hosted some 300 representatives of world religions in Assisi, Italy on Thursday, Oct. 27, for an interfaith summit on justice and peace, with distinct changes made to the event first convened 25 years ago by Pope John Paul II. The Rev. Dr. Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the World Council of Churches, warned of the threat to peace posed by widespread youth unemployment. Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, the spiritual leader of the world's Eastern Orthodox Christians, lamented the "increased marginalization of Christian communities in the Middle East." Archbishop Norvan Zakarian, primate of the Armenian Apostolic Church in France, denounced the "gravest of all crimes, genocide," though he did not specifically mention the killing of more than 1 million Armenians by Ottoman Turks following World War I. For his part, Benedict denounced terrorism in the name of God, which he called the "antithesis of religion," The Huffington Post reported. Top stories Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow on April 22 to hold talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". Partner news | International cybercrime ringleaders arrested in Armenia, Ukraine Europol, Europe's crime agency, has arrested four ringleaders of several cybercrime networks that used botnets. Armenia skips CSTO Defense Ministers meeting A meeting of the Council of Defense Ministers of the Collective Security Treaty Organization countries began in Almaty. Armenian, Iranian foreigh policy chief talk over the phone The Foreign Minister of Armenia once again expressed condolences to his counterpart on the death of the President of Iran. Armenia, U.S. customs authorities to boost assistance with new deal The government has approved an agreement with the U.S. government on mutual assistance between the customs authorities. |