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.

Wisconsin teacher placed on leave after social media post advocating to ‘make Americans great assassins again’

After Karoline Leavitt Calls Out Dems for Their Vile Anti-Trump Rhetoric, GOP Brings the Receipts

Newsom’s wife lashes out at Trump after he rips ’60 Minutes’ host: ‘Internalized misogyny’

Mamdani’s education plan’s ‘lack of merit’ could fundamentally change student outcomes: GOP leader warns

‘Hell Week’ in Washington: A look at House Republicans’ current bind, and how we got here

DOJ Moves Against White House Ballroom Lawsuit in Wake of Shooting: ‘Enough Is Enough’

Pastor known for marriage advice arrested at rumored swingers community accused of having multiple wives

Newsom taunts Trump with multiple jabs as Florida redistricting fight ramps up: ‘Beat at his own game’

Watch: Bubba Wallace Sparks NASCAR Mega-Crash That Sweeps Up the Majority of the Field

Injured Secret Service agent fired five shots at Cole during Trump assassination attempt

Trump Calls for Jimmy Kimmel to Be ‘Immediately Fired by ABC and Disney’ After ‘Beyond the Pale’ Melania Stunt

Charles goes to Washington: King visits Trump with ‘special relationship’ at a low

WHCA dinner shooting becomes ‘make or break’ for Kash Patel

Hakeem Jeffries doubles down on ‘maximum warfare’ rhetoric, tells critics ‘I don’t give a damn’

Illegal migrant accused of NY dumpster rape captured on Texas bus as he fled toward southern border: DA

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?”