Bolivian President Evo Morales handed a weird looking crucifix to Pope Francis on July 8. The Pontiff tried to stay diplomatic with his reaction even though what he saw was something that could be a mockery of his entire faith.
The crucifix according to The Daily Mail is actually politically since it shows Jesus Christ crucified on a cross with the symbol of communism. The Pope did his best to still be polite despite the gesture was weird and a bit offensive as what would others could say. The Pope also recognized it as something that was used by a priest back in the 80s as a statement of wanting to separate the church and the state.
In 2006, since became President of Bolivia, the Bible and crucifix were no longer present in the palace. It was replaced by a religion based on Andean beliefs and they even used this new faith in their country's important ceremonies.
But despite of having such criticisms against the Catholic Church, Morales still was polite as well when he met with the Pope. It was just that his gift went really quite controversial because of what it stands for. There is also some important history behind his gift. In the year 1980, priest was actually killed by the army of his country. His name was Rev. Luis Espinal. He was a follower of the left-wing theology and was killed and tortured. It was a tragic story.
After hearing this story, the Pope went to the place where Espinal was last found and said, "Remember one of our brothers, a victim of interests that didn't want him to fight for Bolivia's freedom." He addressed while he was on the popemobile.
