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.

US military releases footage of massive operation to rescue injured airman stranded inside Iran

Multiple death sentences in different states are set to be carried out within 24 hours: ‘Not very common’

Texas Senate candidate Talarico said US was ‘backsliding’ on democracy in resurfaced clip

7 Republicans rebel against Trump, vote with Dems to rein in Iran war powers

Fourth Florida resident dies after contracting flesh-eating bacteria linked to oysters

Washington Democrat claims majority of recent DHS arrestees posed ‘no threat to public safety’

Injured climber crawls ‘through the night’ to safety after falling 500 feet down California mountain

Republican upsets party-backed rival to challenge first openly trans member of Congress

Lawmakers throw out ‘Trojan horse’ activists they say are engaged in American subversion

Watch: Accused Child Sex Predator Literally Faints in Front of Judge After Learning Penalty He’s Facing

Federal judge refers Philadelphia DA Larry Krasner to DOJ for possible criminal investigation

President Trump Nominates Franklin Graham’s Daughter for Key Religious Freedom Position

Nancy Mace Wants Lindsay Clancy Executed, And Says ‘It Should Be Public’

Judge refers Philadelphia district attorney to federal prosecutors over handling of murder case

Senate moves to rein in college sports ‘Wild West’ with sweeping new rules for players, schools

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?”