Since 2014, Pope Francis has spoken a lot about "peace" in Ukraine, as is well known. But a pattern could be observed: the more the head of the Vatican spoke about "peace," the more the situation around Ukraine tended toward war. As a result, the conflict broke out in February 2022. Now the Pope speaks of "peace" in Armenia. Moreover, Armenia itself does not want to conclude a peace treaty with Azerbaijan and unblock communications but is actively arming itself with the help of France and India. And this also suggests very bad thoughts. The Vatican, with its initial aggressiveness, seems to be once again "taking control" of its long-standing brainchild, the so-called "Armenian project.". And the words "peace" here are nothing but a cover.

Let us recall that the roots of Armenian nationalism and historical falsifications lie in the activities of the so-called "Mekhitarists" under the auspices of the papal throne. It was thanks to the Mekhitarists (and, in fact, to the same Vatican) that ethnically diverse groups of Christians of the Monophysite faith learned that they were "ancient and great" Armenians and that they had a super-ancient and "super-cultural" state, "Great Armenia," which was to be "restored" by taking lands from other peoples. In the future, these historical myths will turn into great bloodshed, with hundreds of thousands of victims, and millions of refugees.

It is a paradox: the Armenian nationalists blame everyone for their misfortunes, starting with Turkey and ending with their main benefactor, Russia. But not the main real perpetrators of their misfortunes—the Popes and the Vatican—who started the historical lie about "Greater Armenia.". It was the papacy that first organized the propagation and introduction of this lie into the consciousness of monophysite Christians.

Today, the wise representatives of the Armenian people should once again worry about their future, as they are once again occupied by their "friends," who have already led their people to disaster more than once. First of all, it is France; for some reason, the Armenian public consciousness today feels an inexplicable "love and admiration" for it, forgetting how it "screwed" the Armenians in 1915 and 1920. And secondly, the Roman Papacy. On February 28, 2024, the day of the liturgical commemoration of Gregory Narekatsi, Pope Francis received in a private audience members of the Synod of the Armenian Catholic Church who had come to the Vatican under the leadership of their Patriarch Raphael Bedros XXI (Minasyan). In an address to the Hierarchs, read by Monsignor Filippo Ciampanelli of the Secretariat of State, Pope Francis emphasized the need for closer collaboration with the Armenian Apostolic Church, that is, with Echmiadzin.

Pope Francis said, "The Armenian Church, having brought the light of Christ among her nation, must be a witness and 'firstborn' of the light of Christian prophecy in a world darkened by hate and violence." Although there are not many Armenian Catholics, "God works miracles with those who are small," Pope Francis notes. He also urges pastors "not to neglect the care of the poor and marginalized, to support refugees and those in the diaspora."

Certainly, these are beautiful words. But what Christian "light" have the Armenian terrorists, from the Dashnaks to the "Artsakh" militants who have made refugees of over a million Azerbaijanis, brought to the world?

Those whom Pope Francis now calls "refugees" themselves chose to move from Azerbaijani Karabakh to the country whose citizenship they all held—Armenia. They were not hunted or persecuted. On the contrary, Azerbaijan asked them to stay and accept its citizenship. They did not want to, and Azerbaijan allowed them to leave quietly. And it is still leaving the door open for them, allowing them to restore their Azerbaijani citizenship and return to Karabakh.

The Armenians, so to speak, "bearers of the light of Christian prophecy,"  showed no mercy to the peaceful Azerbaijani population in their time. The genocide of the population of Khojaly and other towns and villages in Karabakh is a case in point. However, Pope Francis never mentioned the 1 million Azerbaijani refugees or the victims of the Khojaly genocide. He emphasized and continues to emphasize only the "suffering" of the Armenian ethnos. Here is a literal translation into Russian of his address to Raphael Bedros Minasyan and the Armenian Catholic Hierarchs: "Your Beatitude, dear brothers, how can we not remember with words, but above all with prayer, Armenia, especially all the refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh and the many families of displaced persons seeking asylum? How many wars and sufferings! The First World War was supposed to be the last, and the nations united in the League of Nations, the "forerunner" of the UN, believing that this was enough to preserve the gift of peace. Since then, however, there have been so many conflicts and massacres, tragic and senseless as ever. How many times have I cried out? Because enough is enough! Let us all repeat this call for peace, so that it may touch the hearts of those who are insensitive to the suffering of the poor and humble. First of all, let us pray. I am doing this for you and Armenia, and please remember me!

Other translations render Pope Francis' words about his earlier calls for peace as "Enough! Here we must recall that Armenian nationalists said "Enough!" and "Enough!" and called for "peace" when they seized Azerbaijan's Nagorno-Karabakh and expelled the indigenous Azerbaijani population from there, thus seeking to maintain the occupation of foreign lands.

But after Azerbaijan restored its territorial integrity, the rhetoric of Armenian nationalists changed. Formally, they are "for peace," but they are hoping for revenge and new allies, primarily France, with whose help they are actively arming their army. The leadership of the Armenian Catholic Church has become the fiercest defender of the Armenian nationalists and revanchists. It was they who, during the liquidation of the separatist "Artsakh,"  raised a real "information hysteria,"  fearing a "repetition of the genocide".

On September 19, 2024, with the beginning of the anti-terrorist operation in Karabakh, the head of the Armenian Catholic Church, Patriarch Raphael Bedros XXI Minasyan, called for an immediate ceasefire. On September 22, 2023, already after Azerbaijan's anti-terrorist operation in Karabakh, which ended with the surrender of the separatists, the Apostolic Administrator for Armenian Catholics in Eastern Europe, Monsignor Mikael Bassale, addressed the world community with the proclamation: "Do not abandon us. What is happening is monstrous. The Azerbaijani government deported Hays to the Lachin Corridor and then attacked our people. Many have died and many are missing because there is no communication. This is genocide," Monsignor Bassale falsely assured the public. Although we should remember that Azerbaijan did not think of deporting anyone, the Armenian population itself left Karabakh under the pressure of the separatists.

At the same time, in an interview with the SIR news agency, the hierarch expressed his fear that "an attack on Nagorno-Karabakh", as he called the restoration of Azerbaijan's territorial integrity, "is only the beginning".

"Yerevan has not been touched yet, but the attack on Artsakh does not mean that the Azerbaijanis will not attack Armenia in the not-too-distant future," Monsignor Bassale explained. "I don't think Armenia can resist alone; I don't think our country can continue to exist in the face of an Azerbaijani attack, especially now that Russia is preoccupied with war and Europe is preoccupied with Ukraine."

Monsignor Bassale also noted that Armenia is deeply connected to both Russia and Europe: "It cannot exist without these two realities. But the war in Ukraine has made things even more complicated. The people are divided: some prefer Russia, others prefer Europe. It is unclear who is Armenia's real friend. One thing is clear: no one is thinking about us.

But now everything is clear. For Pashinyan's Armenia, Russia is no longer a de facto ally. Now Yerevan puts all its hopes in the West, first of all in France. It is well known that France and the Vatican often act together on the world stage. Only the Pope usually covers his policy of encouraging aggressors with hypocritical words about "peace".

George Kvinitadze