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.

Nevada Democratic election chief says Trump administration hit his office with seven DOJ subpoenas

DOJ ordered to freeze antitrust work with Canada as trade tensions intensify

Left-Wing Outlet Says It’s a ‘Racist Conspiracy Theory’ to Talk About Immigrants Replacing American Voters

WATCH: Illegal alien busted in battleground state after allegedly committing voter fraud

American Journalist Sentenced to Prison After Pleading Guilty to Working as an Agent of the Chinese Government

Republicans denounce Lindsay Clancy mistrial: ‘Victims deserved far, far better’

Two Suspects Arrested After Famous Musician and His Family Are Murdered in Mexico

Mullin asks DOJ to review voter data sharing tied to Zuckerberg-funded nonprofit group

Trump lawyers target what Letitia James won’t say about evidence in $450M case

Country Star John Rich Says Jelly Roll Knew Exactly What He Was Doing, And He Will Now Pay the Price

ICE officer pleads not guilty to lying about Minneapolis shooting involving Venezuelan man

Illinois mother charged with murder in death of 2-year-old son in case drawing comparions to Lindsay Clancy

Michael Cohen, Star Witness in Trump’s NY Conviction, Reportedly Recants Testimony: ‘He Was Pressured and Coerced’

First responders honor World Trade Center beam arriving at Boston fallen heroes memorial

Lindsay Clancy mistrial declared after jury deadlocks in killings of her three children

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?”