One of Pope Francis' greatest pleasures is a sip of yerba mate tea.
-“We've watched you these past few days and over the last two and a half years, what's your secret?”
POPE FRANCIS
“'What is your drug?' is what he wanted to ask...that's the real question! The drug? Mate (tea) helps me, but I haven't tried coca (tea), to be clear!'
Few know that the mate tea which Pope Francis enjoys so much is closely linked to Jesuits who traveled to the new world and learned of the herb from indigenous populations.
Now a new book tells the history and secrets of this energizing drink, as well as the other discoveries of globetrotting Jesuits.
It's titled, “Quinine, mate, and cures: Naturalist Jesuits in the colonial era.” It says that Pope Francis' favorite beverage was first consumed by an indigenous population known as the guaraní, and that the Jesuits adopted it as a medicine.
IGNACIO NÚÑEZ DE CASTRO, SJ
Author, “Naturalist Jesuits in the colonial era”
“It's about the history of science as well, because the Jesuits made fundamental contributions to the natural sciences.”
The book reveals that one of the Jesuits' accomplishments was discovering how to germinate mate seeds in order to plant more of their trees, and eventually commercialize the herb.
Its author, Ignacio Núñez de Castro, also details the many contributions to the natural sciences of some twenty Jesuits.
Jesuit missionaries in the 17th century described mate as a substance that “encourages work..pushes away sleep, and enlivens the senses.” Today, it seems as though the first Jesuit pope would agree.
AFM, CBM
TR: JM
