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.

Hegseth shoots down Iran ‘kamikaze dolphins’ — leaves US question open

Rubio’s Trump admin juggling act grows as meme-worthy role list becomes reality

Priceless: Swalwell Joined Snapchat to Restore ‘Faith’ in ‘Democracy,’ Then Used It to Send Utterly Depraved Videos, Photos to Women – Accusations

Fed-up Justice Alito Just Leveled 5 Humiliating Insults at Justice Jackson in Withering Majority Opinion – Here’s the List

Alito rips Jackson’s ‘utterly irresponsible’ solo dissent as Supreme Court fight shakes up 2026 map

California gubernatorial hopefuls contend with back-to-back debates with finish line in sight

Climate seminars for judges face funding trail probe amid fears of outside influence on courts

Caine likens ‘kamikaze dolphin’ question to ‘sharks with laser beams’ in nod to Austin Powers movies

Florida shooting spree kills 4-month-old baby, toddler, their mother and grandmother across two scenes

Nancy Mace Names 6 Lawmakers in Bombshell Comments on Congressional Sex Scandal ‘Slush Fund’

Under-the-radar race will decide Michigan Senate control in Whitmer’s final year

Dem Chicago Alderman Wants Walgreens Charged with Crime After Store Closes Amid Rampant Theft, Violence

Oklahoma park shooting that injured nearly two dozen started over argument at unsanctioned party, police say

Trump turns Obama-era youth health policy on its head as school fitness benchmark returns

Massie ally sparks backlash after accusing Trump-backed challenger of abusing VA benefits

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?”