Pope Francis Asks for Forgiveness After Amazon Statues Stolen, Thrown Into River in Rome

Pope Francis asked Amazonian bishops and tribal leaders for forgiveness Friday after indigenous statues were stolen from a Vatican-area church and thrown into a nearby river.

The wood-carved figures of naked pregnant women, known as Pachamama, were brought to the Vatican to be displayed during the pope’s three-week assembly of Amazonian clergy, called a synod.

The pope insisted there was no intention of idolatry, which undercut conservative claims that the statues are symbols of pagan worship.

“Above all, this happened in Rome and as the bishop of this diocese I ask forgiveness of the people who were offended by this gesture,” Francis told the synod hall.

The Vatican has said the statues are symbols of life, fertility and Mother Earth.

Spanberger slams Trump on ‘affordability’ in SOTU response — as Virginia Democrats push new taxes

Trump awards Purple Hearts to National Guard members ambushed in Washington, DC: ‘We love you all’

WATCH: ‘These People Are Crazy!’ – Trump Unloads on Democrats During SOTU With a Never Before Seen Passion

BREAKING VIDEO: Chaos Breaks Out at SOTU After Trump Asks Everyone in Favor of Putting US Citizens Before Illegals to Rise

Democrats targeted over ‘illegal orders’ video attend Trump State of the Union

Alert: Schumer Gives Chilling 7 Seconds of Press Comments After Iran Briefing – Zero Attacks on Trump, Obvious Worry, Pure Seriousness

Dems Bring Illegal Aliens to State of the Union as Their Guests, Further Degrading the Safety of Trump, Everyone Present

Al Green returns to House chamber for Trump SOTU after dramatic 2025 ejection

Dems tap ICE detainees, suspected illegal immigrants as guests for Trump’s speech: DHS

NYPD releases photos of snowball-wielding suspects with facial hair after Mamdani claims attackers were ‘kids’

DHS backs off plans for new ICE facility in New Hampshire after local pushback, meeting with governor

Peter Mandelson denies ‘baseless’ claim of fleeing UK for British Virgin Islands

Schumer, Dems again block DHS funding, force State of the Union showdown

Pentagon gives AI firm ultimatum: lift military limits by Friday or lose $200M deal

No Democratic candidate secures party endorsement in California governor’s race

The wooden figures were found unharmed in the Tiber River this week. The pope said he would consider having them displayed during the final Mass of the synod on Sunday.

The theft was caught on surveillance video Monday as thieves took the figures from the Santa Maria in Traspontina church, just down the block from St. Peter’s Square.

The video appeared to show at least two men enter the church before dawn, take the statues placed at an altar and then throw them in the river. The act was celebrated by conservative Catholics who deemed the statues pagan idols.

Cardinal Gerhard Mueller, the conservative German fired by Francis in 2017 as the Vatican’s doctrine chief, said it was a “great mistake” to bring the statues to the Vatican in the first place.

“To throw it out can be against human law, but to bring the idols into the church was a grave sin, a crime against divine law,” he told conservative U.S. Catholic broadcaster EWTN.

While the theft was cheered by conservative Catholics, progressives denounced the act as racism.

“Can you imagine the conservative outcry if someone tossed the image of Our Lady of Czestochowa into the Tiber?” the National Catholic Reporter, a progressive Catholic magazine, said in an editorial this week. “We do not use the term ‘racists’ lightly, but what else is it?”