Pope Francis denounced what he called the ideologically twisted and planned “genocide” of Armenians by Ottoman-era Turks a century ago as he arrived in Yerevan, Armenia, on Friday for a symbolic weekend visit to mark the centenary of the massacre.

In the most carefully watched speech of his three-day trip, Francis ad-libbed the politically charged word “genocide” to his prepared text that had conspicuously left it out.



And rather than merely repeat what had said last year – that the slaughter was “considered the first genocide of the 20th century” – Francis declared it a genocide, setting the stage for another Turkish protest after it withdrew its ambassador last year and accused the pontiff of spreading lies.

“Sadly that tragedy, that genocide, was the first of the deplorable series of catastrophes of the past century, made possible by twisted racial, ideological or religious aims that darkened the minds of the tormentors even to the point of planning the annihilation of entire peoples,” he said.



Pope Francis and the Armenian president, Serzh Sargsyan, review honour guards shortly after the pontiff’s arrival. Photograph: Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP

“It’s so sad how, in this case and in the other two, the great international powers looked the other way,” he added, in apparent reference to the subsequent horrors of Nazism and Stalinism.



In the run-up to the visit, the Vatican had refrained from using the term “genocide,” mindful of Turkish opposition to the political and financial implications of the word given Armenian claims for reparations.



But Francis, never one to shy from speaking his mind, added the word at the last minute in a speech at the presidential palace to President Serzh Sargsyan and Armenian political and religious leaders. They gave him a standing ovation.

Pope Francis heads to the Apostolic Cathedral of Etchmiadzint. Photograph: Andrew Medichini/AFP/Getty Images

“One cannot but believe in the triumph of justice when in 100 years … the message of justice is being conveyed to mankind from the heart of the Catholic world,” marvelled Sargsyn in his speech to the pope.



Many historians consider the massacres of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians genocide. Turkey rejects the term, says the death figure is inflated and that people died on both sides as the Ottoman empire collapsed during the first world war.



In a largely Orthodox country where Catholics are a minority, Armenians have been honoured to welcome a pope who has long championed the Armenian cause from his time as an archbishop in Argentina and now as leader of the 1.2 billion-strong Catholic church. His 2015 declaration that the massacres were genocide sealed their affection for him.



The pontiff kisses the bible during a visit to the cathedral. Photograph: Osservatore Romano/EPA

“I shook the pope’s hand but didn’t have the time to kiss it,” 42-year-old Yerevan resident Nazik Sargsyan said on Friday as Francis arrived. “I’m sure God’s blessing has come down on me with that handshake.”



Small groups of residents lined his motorcade route, and a gaggle of schoolchildren wearing white T-shirts and yellow neckerchiefs – the colours of the Vatican flag – greeted him at the airport with a banner written in Italian that read: “Armenia welcomes Pope Francis.”

In his initial remarks in the ornate Apostolic church in Etchmiadzin, Francis praised Armenia for becoming the first country to declare Christianity the state religion in AD301 and for keeping alive the “light of faith” even in its darkest times.



Armenian children pray at the cathedral. Photograph: Tiziana Fabi/AFP/Getty Images

With the Apostolic patriarch Karekin II by his side, Francis urged all Christians to unite to prevent religion from being exploited and manipulated today, a reference to the Islamic extremist attacks on Christians in the Middle East.

“It is vitally important that all those who declare their faith in God join forces to isolate those who use religion to promote war, oppression and violent persecution, exploiting and manipulating the holy name of God,” he said.



The Vatican has long cheered the Armenian cause, holding up the poor country of 3 million mostly Orthodox Christians as a bastion of faith and martyrdom in a largely Muslim region.

Francis embraces the Apostolic patriarch Karekin II. Photograph: Osservatore Romano/EPA

Sargsyan, Karekin and a handful of other officials greeted Francis on the tarmac at Yerevan airport in a low-key ceremony. A girls’ choir serenaded and the pope, patriarch and president then walked behind a goose-stepping military official along a red carpet into the VIP lounge before heading to Echmiadzin, the seat of the Oriental Orthodox church where Francis will stay as a guest of Karekin.



“Blessed is the hour when the feet of Pope Francis touched our soil!” exclaimed local resident Simon Samsonya. “He won the love of the Armenian people with his message at St Peter’s Cathedral on the eve of the 100 years anniversary of the genocide.”



The pontiff will have another opportunity to pay respects to the victims of the slaughter when he visits Armenia’s genocide memorial on Saturday.