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The Latest: Pope offers up to the Madonna 2 medals of honor given to him by Bolivian president

Associated Press
Published | Updated
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    In this pool photo taken on July 9, 2015 and made available on Friday, July 10, 2015, Pope Francis and Bolivia's President Evo Morales, left, smile as they don the traditional Bolivian hats they were given at the second World Meeting of Popular Movements in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Francis gave a late-afternoon speech to delegates at the gathering. (L'Osservatore Romano/Pool Photo via AP) (The Associated Press)

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    Pope Francis waves during the second Global Meeting of Popular Movements in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, Thursday, July 9, 2015. During his speech at the meeting, history's first Latin American pope apologized for the sins and "offenses" committed by the Catholic Church against indigenous peoples during the colonial-era conquest of the Americas. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd) (The Associated Press)

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    A street photographer carries a life-size cut out figure of Pope Francis, before the arrival of the pope to the Palmasola prison, behind, in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, Friday, July 10, 2015. Pope Francis wrapped up his pilgrimage to Bolivia with a visit to its notoriously violent and overcrowded Palmasola prison, where inmates have the run of the place, drugs are cheaper than on the street and money buys survival. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd) (The Associated Press)

ASUNCION, Paraguay – Here are the latest developments from Pope Francis' trip to South America:

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9:45 a.m.

Pope Francis has offered up to the Madonna the two medals of honor that Bolivian President Evo Morales gave him upon his arrival.

The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said Francis made the offering Friday morning after celebrating Mass. Francis generally doesn't accept honorary medallions or awards, and Morales' gifts came as a surprise to the Vatican.

One of the medals was named for the Rev. Luis Espinal, the Jesuit activist slain by Bolivian paramilitaries in 1980. It featured the crucifix on a hammer and sickle, the same symbol used in a real-life "Communist crucifix" that Morales gave to the pope at the same ceremony.

The Vatican didn't say what Francis was doing with the crucifix.

The pope is visiting a prison outside Santa Cruz, Bolivia, this morning.