Pope insists on church role in Bolivia after religious limits imposed
LA PAZ, Bolivia – Pope Francis arrived Wednesday in Bolivia on the second leg of his South American tour and immediately insisted that the Catholic Church continue to play an important role in society amid efforts by the government of President Evo Morales to curb its influence. He later called for dialogue between Bolivia and Chile over their longtime border dispute.
Morales hugged the pope as he descended from the Boliviana de Aviacion plane and hung a pouch around his neck of woven alpaca with indigenous trimmings. It is of the type commonly used to hold coca leaves, which are chewed by people in the Andes to alleviate altitude sickness. It wasn’t known if Francis chewed any leaves, though he was served mate tea made with coca leaves, chamomile and annis on the plane from Quito, Ecuador.
La Paz stands at about 13,120 feet above sea level, and the Vatican decided to keep the pope’s stay to just four hours to limit any problems for the 78-year-old pontiff, who has only one full lung. Francis seemed in fine form, though, bundled against the cold and wind by a white shawl he donned for his popemobile ride into town past thousands of people who came to greet him, waving handkerchiefs and singing songs of welcome.
At an airport welcome ceremony with Morales by his side, Francis praised Bolivia for taking “important steps” to include the poor and marginalized in the political and economic life of the country, South America’s poorest.
Morales came to power championing Bolivia’s 36 indigenous groups and enshrined their rights in the constitution, and under his leadership Bolivia’s economy has boomed thanks to high prices for its natural gas and minerals. But Morales has roiled the local church by taking a series of anti-clerical initiatives, including a new constitution that made the overwhelmingly Catholic nation a secular country.
In his speech, Francis noted the Catholic faith took “deep root” in Bolivia centuries ago “and has continued to shed its light upon society, contributing to the development of the nation and shaping its culture.”
“The voice of the bishops, which must be prophetic, speaks to society in the name of the church, our mother, from her preferential, evangelical option for the poor,” he said.
Francis was expected to raise environmental concerns during his Bolivian sojourn, just as he did in Ecuador. Other highlights of the trip include his visit to the notoriously violent Palmasola prison, where a battle among inmate gangs in 2013 left 30 people dead. As in many Latin American prisons, inmates largely control the inside of Palmasola, which teems with about 3,500 prisoners, more than four in five still awaiting trial.