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.

WHCA dinner gunman pleads not guilty to attempted Trump assassination charges

WHCA Dinner shooting suspect Cole Allen pleads not guilty, judge scoffs at defense’s power play

Footage shows moments before Frontier Airlines jet struck person on Denver airport runway

Democrats consider plan to wipe conservatives off Virginia Supreme Court: Report

Jeff Landry dismisses concerns about 45,000 discarded ballots after suspended primaries: ‘It’s not my fault’

Former Dem gov in hot seat for ‘complete failure’ in ‘INSANE’ early release of thousands of inmates

House Freedom Caucus vows ‘gloves are coming off’ as FISA deadline looms

Alert: American Who Was on Hantavirus Cruise Ship Tests Positive, as 2nd Passenger Now Showing Symptoms

Frontier Plane Hits Pedestrian During Takeoff at Denver Airport

US Sanctions Foreign Entities Accused Of Sharing Satellite Imagery, Access to Arms to Prop Up Iran’s War Effort

The unexpected force keeping beef prices high and why the pressure could last for years

How Al Qaeda repositioned itself to dominate the central Sahel

Pennsylvania man accused of fatal arson after woman allegedly rejected his advances

Virginia Dems Make Glaring Errors In Rushed Court Motion To Save Gerrymandering Scheme

Hegseth says Pentagon will review Mark Kelly’s public statements about classified briefing amid ongoing feud

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?”