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.

Trump declared ‘fully fit’ for all presidential duties after annual physical shows ‘excellent health’

Donna Brazile brushes off Biden’s stroke fears, says Democrats must ‘focus on the future’

‘Spokane 3’ protesters convicted on federal conspiracy charges for blocking ICE transfer in Washington

Eight riders left dangling atop 100-foot roller coaster for over three hours at Texas amusement park

Fox News Campus Radicals Newsletter: Jewish student abuse alleged, disrespecting Charlie Kirk, woke work

FBI arrests protester who threatened to kill ICE officer’s family at NJ detention center protest, Blanche says

Uber CEO: In the Future, You Won’t Own Your Car

Dan Sullivan vs. Dan Sullivan: GOP blasts clone candidate as lookalike enters Alaska Senate race

Virginia bus crash that killed five involved driver who doesn’t speak English, Sean Duffy says

Who is Christopher Cooper, the judge who blocked Trump’s plans for the Kennedy Center?

Dem Senate hopeful Abdul El-Sayed recounts smashing vodka bottle after beard criticism

GRAPHIC: Next Time Somebody Complains ICE Is Wearing Masks, Shut Them up with This Footage – ‘Your Whole ****ing Family Is Dead … I Have Your Face!’

Coast Guard ending race-based admissions for officer commissioning program under Trump DEI crackdown

Sheridan Gorman’s alleged illegal immigrant killer caught with weapon while in jail custody, police say

Minnesota Law Enforcement Travels to Texas to Arrest ICE Agent

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?”