Pope Awards High Church Honor to Armenian Mystic St. Gregory

Pope Francis has given a gift of sorts to Armenian Catholics commemorating the 100th anniversary of the massacre of Armenians by Ottoman Turks, declaring a revered 10th-century mystic and poet, St. Gregory of Narek, a doctor of the church.

The Vatican said Monday that Francis had agreed to bestow one of the highest church honors on Gregory after the decision was taken by the Vatican's saint-making office.

The title of doctor of the church is reserved for people whose writings have greatly served the universal church. Only 35 people have been given the title, including St. Augustine, St. Francis de Sales and St. Teresa of Avila.

The designation comes a few weeks before Francis celebrates a Mass in St. Peter's Basilica to commemorate the centenary of the start of the Armenian massacre.

Francis provoked Turkish anxiety when in June 2013 he told a visiting delegation of Armenian Christians that the massacre was "the first genocide of the 20th century."