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.

Ukraine Annihilates 3,000 Enemy Troops by Dropping Killer Robots Behind Russian Lines, Makes World History

GOP AGs Target Wall Street Big 3 for Punishing Companies with Bad Credit for Refusing to Comply with Woke ESG

California K-9 Otis helps police seize 440 pounds of cocaine during Alhambra traffic stop

Shooting near Baltimore youth football event leaves 12-year-old girl dead, 3 adults wounded

Trump touts ‘golden age’ at Ohio rally, urges voters to deliver GOP midterm wins

Cornell president says university ‘must do better’ on handling of sexual assault allegations

South Carolina mom couldn’t remember last time she fed 2 daughters before they were found dead: affidavit

Another One: College Prof, Ex-Dem Candidate Arrested After His DNA Found in 15-Year-Old’s Rape Kit, Cops Say

Education Dept. Goes Viral with Takedown of ‘Fake News’ Story on Loan Cuts: No More Handouts for Failing Degrees

Even Healthcare Workers Are Dropping Health Coverage as Obamacare Premiums Hit New Heights

Trump drops Republican Senator’s phone number in social post over fury on stalled bill

Republicans Pour Unprecedented Amounts of Money Defending Seats Trump Won by Double Digits

Spencer Pratt Reveals the Secret Behind His Viral Campaign Ads – And What Every Other Politician Is Doing Wrong

Tennessee prison chief resigns after failed execution as former US attorney tapped to lead independent review

Firebrand GOP rep: Democrats side with Iran ‘simply because they hate’ Trump

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?”