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The Latest: Pope hosts fancy lunch for Mapuche
SANTIAGO, Chile/January 17, 2018(AP)(STL.News)The Latest on Pope Francis’ visit to Latin America (all times local):
Pope Francis is treating a few members of Chile’s Mapuche indigenous peoples to a fancy lunch, featuring octopus carpaccio, osso bucco and flan.
The Vatican released the menu of the luncheon Francis hosted after celebrating Mass in Aracaunia, the heart of the Mapuche land in southern Chile. Francis usually prefers simple meals, but the menu suggests he and his fellow hosts were going all out for their guests.
The small group breaking bread at a religious house in Temuco on Wednesday began with a mushroom ragout, followed by octopus carpaccio and crab claws. The meat course included osso bucco with saffron rice and vegetables, with flan for dessert.
The Vatican said the pope and eight Mapuche were joined by a woman the Vatican described as a “victim of rural violence” as well as a descendant of the German-Swiss colonizers who clashed for centuries with the Mapuche. Rounding out the guest list was the bishop of Temuco and a recent Haitian migrant to the region.
Authorities in Chile are investigating the burning of three helicopters and a Roman Catholic Church just hours before Pope Francis celebrated Mass in the country’s most conflictive region.
The attack happened in the city of Collipulli, where a school and an adjourning church that was no longer being used were both partially burned.
At least 10 churches have been firebombed in the last week, most in the Araucania region where the indigenous Mapuche are pushing for a return of ancestral lands and recognition of their language and culture.
Prosecutor Enrique Vasquez told local media that at the scene Wednesday that investigators found a sign and pamphlets demanding the release of Mapuche prisoners.
Meanwhile, two helicopters were completely torched and a third was partially burned in the city of Curanilahue. The city is part of a region that neighbors the Araucania region.
Authorities say the aircraft belonged to the forest company Arauco. Pro-Mapuche Pamphlets were also found at the scene.
During Wednesday’s Mass in the Araucania capital of Temuco, Francis called for an end to the violence.
Pope Francis is urging the indigenous Mapuche people to reject violence in pushing their cause.
Francis made the comments Wednesday while celebrating Mass in Temuco. The city is the capital of the Araucania region, where many of Chile’s estimated 1 million people of Mapuche descent live.
The Mapuche have been pushing for a return of ancestral lands and recognition of their language and culture. A small minority has used violence to push its cause.
In recent years, scores of churches have been burned in the region. In just the last week, at least 10 churches in Chile have been firebombed. No arrests have been made.
Francis says that a culture of reconstruction can’t be based in violence.
Francis says “you cannot assert yourself by destroying others because this only leads to more violence and destruction.”
Pope Francis is paying homage to Chileans who were tortured or killed at an air base where he is celebrating Mass.
Francis made the remarks during his homily at an outdoor Mass at the Maqueue aerodrome in Temuco.
Francis said the area is “the site of grave violations of human rights.”
He said that the Mass was being offered for all those who have suffered or died.
Many years before the 1973-1990 military dictatorship, the land was taken from the indigenous Mapuche people. To this day, it’s a point of conflict for many who argue the land should be returned.
Pope Francis is preparing to celebrate Mass in an area that represents a centuries-old conflict with indigenous peoples and that was used as a torture facility during the country’s bloody military dictatorship.
The Maquehue Air Base in Temuco was built on land taken from the indigenous Mapuche in the early 20th century.
It was also used as a detention center during the 1973-1990 dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet. Those two things make it a place steeped in painful history for both the Mapuche and families of victims of the dictatorship.
Thousands greeted Francis Wednesday as he rode in his popemobile on arrival in Temuco. It’s the pope’s second full day in the Andean nation of 17 million people. On Tuesday, Francis met with survivors of priest abuse and asked for forgiveness for the abuse.
By Associated Press, published on STL.NEWS by St. Louis Media, LLC (TM)