Pope Francis tries cocaine tea in Bolivia
Maybe this explains some of his bizarre utterances:
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Permalink Reply by David Kaftal on
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From the article:
"As well as sampling coca tea, Bolivian Culture Minister Marko Machicao had earlier said that the Pope specifically requested some coca leaves to chew on his visit to the landlocked Andean nation, according to Agence France-Presse.
The Pope’s spokesman had also hinted that he might consume some coca leaf on his trip to show respect for local Bolivian customs.
Bolivia’s local indigenous population consider coca a sacred plant..."
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Permalink Reply by Cathleen on
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I read something briefly this morning that the coca leaves (tea, whatever) were suggested as a remedy to the thinner air at La Paz (12,000 ft above sea level) because the Pope has only one lung, making breathing difficult at times.
Now maybe I am wrong, or there was more to the story than what I read. It wouldn't surprise me to hear anything any more.
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Well, this is weird. I did a little looking around on the internet, and found a bunch of articles claiming that Pope Leo XIII was a big fan of a tonic made from wine and coca leaves. It was called Vin Mariani. I even found a Wikipedia article that claims that Pope Pius X also used the stuff, as did Thomas Edison and Ulysses S. Grant. Of course, cocaine was perfectly legal and very popular in the 19th and early 20th century. Coca-Cola had cocaine in it from 1886 until 1903. So, maybe this story isn't as disturbing as it first seemed. Of course, we know more about the down side of cocaine now than we did 125 years ago. Still, I don't think that Pope Loe XIII or Pope Pius X ever used the stuff to show respect to indigenous people who considered it a sacred plant... This time around it seems it may be an act of ecu-mania.
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