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.

Ex–New York State official accused of spying for China called Hochul ‘more obedient’ than Cuomo, trial reveals

US carries out 22nd strike on alleged drug vessel operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization

Grand jury declines to indict Letitia James after earlier case collapsed

FBI says Jan. 6 pipe bomb suspect purchased bomb parts in 2019

Trump scores 10 extra nominees after snafu with Senate Democrats

Admiral Tells Congress He Had a Good Reason for Ordering Second Strike on Drug Boat

Violent retaliation against US citizens possible in Venezuela conflict, expert warns

Watch: Prince Harry Snipes at Donald Trump in Cringey Colbert Appearance

Fox News Politics Newsletter: Who is Brian Cole, the DC pipe bomb suspect?

NYU attack suspect allegedly assaulted woman days earlier, found burglarizing off-campus apartments: report

NYC teen arrested, charged with setting homeless subway rider on fire, police say

Alberta Pastor Arrested for Refusing to Apologize for Hurting Woke Librarian’s Feelings

Huge DC Pipe Bomb Twist Changes the Story – The Biden Admin Knew

Trump hosts ‘Washington Accords’ Rwanda-Congo peace deal signing, vows US rare earths purchases

Young Americans give big thumbs down to Democrats, Republicans, Trump: poll

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?”