(Transcript from World News Radio)
Turkey has recalled its ambassador from Rome after Pope Francis described the mass killing of Christian Armenians under Ottoman rule as 'genocide'.
The mass killings of Armenians is considered by many to have been a genocide, a description which Turkey rejects.
Pope Francis was leading a church service to mark the 100th anniversary of the Armenian mass killings.
Julia Calixto reports.
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In St Peter's Basillica in Vatican City, hundreds of Armenians prayed for peace.
It's been 100 years since many thousands of their ancestors and fellow countrymen were killed under the Ottoman Empire during the First World War.
A special service was led by Pope Francis, with Armenian church leaders.
Pope Francis highlighted how important it is to remember the tragic events that occurred in the early 20th Century.
"It is necessary and indeed a duty to honour their memory for whenever memory fades, it means that evil allows wounds to fester."
For decades, crucial details of the mass killings have been disputed.
Armenians say up to one-and-half-million people were killed under Ottoman rule in 1915 and 1916.
Turkey doesn't dispute that many people died, but says the figure is much smaller, and claims that most deaths were the result of warfare and famine.
Some countries and historians recognise the killings to be genocide, but there is no international consensus.
Now for the first time, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church appears to have publicly picked a side.
"In the past century our human family has lived through three massive and unprecedented tragedies. The first, which is widely considered 'the first genocide of the 20th Century' struck your own Armenian people."
The Pontiff went on to say the other two were perpetrated by Nazism and Stalinism.
Armenia's President, Serzh Sargsyan, who was at the special service, says the Pope's comments send a powerful message to the international community.
"Armenians all over the world are touched by this message. They consider that this 100 year long fight for recognition is still going on, but there are already significant results."
But the Turkish government fears the Pope's remarks may fuel accusations of systematic killing.
Within hours of the Pope's sermon, Turkey summoned its ambassador to the Vatican home to Ankara for a meeting.
Turkey's foreign ministry says the Pope's address has created a 'problem of trust' in diplomatic relations between Turkey and the Vatican.
In Istanbul, Turkish Prime Minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, responded.
"We expect religious leaders to make a call for peace and avoid Islamaphobia. The Pope's statements are a misinterpretation and misreading of history - acknowledging one group's pain and neglecting the other's. This statement paves the way to rising racism in Europe and accuses Muslims and Turks of a collective crime. The timing of this statement is very unfortunate, wrong and inappropriate."
There are concerns the comments have wider implications for the Vatican's relations with the world's Islamic community.
The Pope has become more and more vocal against the persecution of Christians, especially in Muslim-majority countries.
He has also tried to promote better relations between the two faiths, on visits to Turkey and to the West Bank where he prayed with Palestinians.
But the Pope's calls for greater peace between Christians and Muslims, and reconciliation between Turkey and Armenia, may have suffered another set back.
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