Pope to Bolivia: Halt Cohabiting

Pope John Paul II, preaching to more than half a million faithful high in the Andes, exhorted Bolivians today to give up an ancient tradition of living together for two years before marriage.

With silvery snow-capped peaks towering in the distance, the pontiff said an open-air Mass in El Alto, a suburb above the capital of La Paz that is 13,350 feet above sea level. The pontiff told the worshipers to abandon their age-old practice of cohabiting for two years before marriage. The tradition, called sirvinacuy by the Aymara-speaking dwellers of the Andean altiplano, is said to be a “test of fire” to ensure maturity and marital happiness.