Posted in GLOBAL on 08/18/2022 06:01 p.m
A very Brazilian yet unusual gift made Pope Francis laugh and thank a 32yearold Catholic woman who visited him during an audience at the Vatican this week. Cristina Chaim is Brazilian and had been planning to meet the Pope since 2018. When it finally came time to meet the head of the Catholic Church, she presented the Argentine with a bottle of cachaça.
The idea came after Francisco joked and laughed last year that there was a problem in Brazil: “too much cachaça and not enough prayer”.
“I knew from the Pope’s statement that I had to bring him a penguin. I took in my suitcase a 200ml bottle of cachaça from Minas with the label of the fictitious brand ‘Muita Oração Pouca Cachaça’ and a card with the same phrase and the Brazilian flag,” Cristina told the report of the daily O from São Paulo Estado de S.Paul.
The Brazilian, who is a member of Our Lady’s Youth Group, also spoke about the nervousness of meeting the Pope and how she was reacting to the present. “I, on the other hand, was shaking too much, my stomach hurt. I approached, showed the card and the bottle. He laughed out loud, threw his head back and said, ‘Thank you, may God bless Brazil,'” the Brazilian told Esstadão.
Cristina Chaim with Pope Francis (Vatican Media/Reproduction)