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.

Mamdani’s Socialist Dream is Becoming a Reality as NYC Freezes 1 Million Rents

Warren tells Trump to ‘sign the damn bill’ as bipartisan housing package remains stalled in Washington

‘Baked to death’: Homan rips media while sharing horrific scenes from border enforcement career

GOP is Launching Election Integrity Project with Page from Soros Playbook

Bill Barr calls on Senate GOP to confirm Todd Blanche for attorney general

New limited-edition US passport features Trump’s image and a warning

Judge Shuts Down Tyler Robinson’s Attempt to Dodge Death Penalty

Trump Says Iran Just Committed ‘a Foolish Violation of Our Ceasefire Agreement’

House Democrat lashes out when grilled on whether socialist victories would threaten Dem unity

Trump commission unveils 12-point blueprint to expand US religious liberty protections

Former youth pastor, Vegas yoga instructor charged in wife’s mystery death kills himself in custody: officials

Watch: JD Vance Has Hilarious ‘Note to Protesters’ Yelling at Him in a Foreign Language

DHS Delivers Bad News for 300,000 Haitians in the US: ‘It’s Closing Time’

New York City pours $15M into sex change initiatives as Mamdani accuses federal government of intimidation

Socialists sweep NYC as Americans balk at movement’s brutal catch: ‘Talk to immigrants’

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?”