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You Shouldn't Have: Morales Gives Pope Francis Agitprop Communist Crucifix

© REUTERS / Osservatore RomanoPope Francis receives a gift from Bolivian President Evo Morales (L) in La Paz, Bolivia, July 8, 2015
Pope Francis receives a gift from Bolivian President Evo Morales (L) in La Paz, Bolivia, July 8, 2015 - Sputnik International
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The pontiff was greeted by thousands of well-wishers in Bolivia before he met with the Bolivian president, who presented him with gifts including a crucifix carved into a hammer and sickle.

Bolivia's President Evo Morales delivers a speech to delegates at the People's Summit, in Panama City, Friday, April 10, 2015 - Sputnik International
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Bolivian President Evo Morales caused a stir on Wednesday when he presented Pope Francis with a 'communist crucifix,' a depiction of Jesus crucified on the hammer and sickle.

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Witnesses gave mixed reports of the Pope's reply when he received the gift, which he promptly handed to an aide. According to some accounts, the pontiff said, "No está bien eso" [This is not ok], while Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said the Pope was more likely to have responded "eso no sabía bien," [I didn't know that], about the origin of the present. 

Responding to the controversy aroused by the gift, Bolivia's Communications Minister Marianela Paco said the symbol was not intended as a political gesture, but to pay tribute to the Pope's advocacy on behalf of the poor.

"It was really from great affection, a work designed by the very hands of Luis Espinal," said Paco.

The Catholic News Agency noted on Thursday that the carving is actually a reproduction of another carved in the 1970s by the Spanish Jesuit, journalist and human rights activist Luis Espinal Camps, who was murdered by paramilitaries in 1980 during the brief dictatorship of Luis Garcia Meza.

After his arrival at El Alto airport in La Paz on Wednesday, Pope Francis stopped to pray at the place where the body of Espinal was found. The Pope then traveled to the city of Santa Cruz, where he joined Morales in giving an address to participants of the World Meeting of Popular Movements, an organization of activists who campaign on behalf of those living in poverty, and at the margins of society.  

"Do we realize that something is wrong in a world where there are so many farm workers without land, so many families without a home, so many laborers without rights, so many persons whose dignity is not respected?"

The Pope told the gathering in Santa Cruz on Wednesday, addressing issues of poverty, social marginalization and environmental destruction.

"Do we realize that that system has imposed the mentality of profit at any price, with no concern for social exclusion or the destruction of nature?"

Evo Morales has pursued a secular political agenda since taking office in 2006, when he ordered the Bible and cross to be removed from the presidential palace, which he regarded as symbols of colonial Spanish oppression. In 2009 following a referendum, the Bolivian constitution was changed to redefine Bolivia as a secular, rather than a Catholic state.

However, Morales has visited Pope Francis twice in Rome, and praised the Pope's support for the poor and marginalized groups.

The Pope arrived in Ecuador on Sunday to begin his nine-day tour of Latin America, before traveling to Bolivia and then Paraguay. This visit is the Argentine pontiff's second to Latin America since he became Pope, having visited Brazil in 2013.

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