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YEREVAN, MARCH 19, ARMENPRESS. As reports "Armenpress" in accordance with the information of the current director of the Holy See Press Office Fr. Federico Lombardi delegations from 132 countries of the world along with 34 world leaders will attend the inauguration ceremony of newly elected Pope of Rome Francis, which will be held in Vatican on March 19. In accordance with the preliminary information the number of pilgrims will reach 1,000,000.
Newly-elected Pope Francis urged Turkey to unconditionally recognize the Armenian Genocide seven years ago. During events marking the 91st anniversary of the Armenian Genocide in Buenos Aires, then Archbishop of Buenos Aires Jorge Mario Bergoglio urged Turkey to recognize the Genocide as the "gravest crime of Ottoman Turkey against the Armenian people and the entire humanity."
The 76-year-old pope will be called Francis, the 266th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church and the first member of the Jesuit order to lead the church and the first none-European pope in more than 1,200 years.
"Pray for me, and we'll see each other soon," the pope told the crowd of more than 100,000 gathered at St. Peter's Square.
On Wednesday, after what is viewed as a short conclave, white smoke from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel heralded that a gathering of Catholic cardinals picked a new pope, choosing the first pontiff from Americas to lead the Roman Catholic Church.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and his French counterpart Jean-Marc Ayrault are among key European leaders expected to attend the ceremony, along with EU President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission head Jose Manuel Barosso, US Vice President Joe Biden, a practicing Catholic, Argentine President Cristina Kirchner, and many other world leaders.
