One should never be disgusted by the crucifix - Rotondi

(ANSA) - Rome, July 14 - The leader of the Italian "Christian Revolution" party slammed Northern League leader Matteo Salvini on Tuesday for saying he was "disgusted" by Bolivia's communist crucifix gift to Pope Francis, arguing that no one should ever be sickened by the cross.
    "One should never be disgusted by the crucifix and we would have never beaten communism without a pope like John Paul II," said Christian Revolution president Gianfranco Rotondi.
    Bolivian president Evo Morales presented Francis with a crucifix in the shape of the communist hammer and sickle symbol when he arrived in La Paz on Wednesday during a tour of South America.
    "Francis is doing well to break down other walls," Rotondi said.
    Pope Francis has said he was not offended by the unusual gift.
    Earlier Salvini told Italian radio he was "disgusted" by the present, because "millions of people in the world have died in the name of that hammer and sickle, in the name of communism".
    The crucifix was based on a design by a Marxist-minded missionary tortured and murdered by Bolivian paramilitaries in 1980, Jesuit priest Father Luis Espinal.
    Francis prayed at the site of Espinal's assassination upon his arrival in Bolivia.
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