...Coca leaves, (click here) which are the raw ingredient for cocaine, are used legally for medical and religious purposes in Bolivia.
The leaves are chewed or brewed in teas and work as a mild stimulant, helping also to alleviate nausea caused by high altitudes.
Bolivia's left-wing President Evo Morales began his political life as the leader of the cocaleros, traditional coca leaf producers.
The pontiff, who had part of a lung removed when he was young, only stayed in the La Paz area - which lies 3,650m (12,000ft) above sea level - for about four hours....
Pope Francis has been available to the people in interviews throughout his trip.
....- In the course of his 64 minute in-flight press conference while en route to Rome, Pope Francis answered questions ranging from politics, his upcoming trip to the Unites States, and his feelings about taking selfies.
The Pope responded in Italian to 14 questions posed by journalists during his July 12 overnight flight from Asuncion to Rome.
Paraguay was the last of the three stops on the Pope's trip to South America. He visited Ecuador July 5-8 and spent a few days in Bolivia before heading to Paraguay on July 10 to finish his visit....
Pope Francis was presented with a communist cross during his travels. He stated it was protest art and was not offended in any way by the gift. July 13, 2015
By Cindy Wooden
Before arriving (click here) in the United States in September, Pope Francis said, he will study American criticisms of his critiques of the global economy and finance.
“I have heard that some criticisms were made in the United States — I’ve heard that — but I have not read them and have not had time to study them well,” the Pope told reporters traveling with him from Paraguay back to Rome on July 12.
“If I have not dialogued with the person who made the criticism,” he said, “I don’t have the right” to comment on what the person’s saying.
Pope Francis said his assertion in Bolivia on July 9 that “this economy kills” is something he believes and has explained in his exhortation “The Joy of the Gospel” and more recently in his encyclical on the environment....
We are all looking forward to his September visit and the words that accompany that visit. I doubt he'll be holding special dispensation for Wall Street.
