Pope apologises for theft of Amazon statue from Rome church

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

Pope apologises for theft of Amazon statue from Rome church

Associated Press
Fri 25 Oct 2019 18.35 BST
Last modified on Fri 25 Oct 2019 18.58 BST

Pope Francis has apologised to Amazonian bishops and tribal leaders after thieves stole indigenous statues from a church close to the Vatican and tossed them into the River Tiber in a show of conservative opposition to the first Latin American pope.

Speaking as “the bishop of Rome”, Francis dismissed allegations that the wooden statues of naked pregnant women were pagan symbols and said they had been placed in the church “without any intention of idolatry”.

The pope’s apology came as his three-week synod on the Amazon wraps up on Saturday, when more than 180 bishops and cardinals from nine Amazonian countries vote on a final document synthesising proposals to better protect the Amazon rainforest and minister to its indigenous peoples.

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A video of the theft that was widely circulated on conservative and traditionalist Catholic media showed at least two men who entered the church before dawn, took the statues from the altar of a side chapel and threw them into the Tiber.

The statues were later recovered, but the theft was celebrated by conservative Catholics who consider the statues pagan idols. Cardinal Gerhard Müller, who was sacked by Francis in 2017 as the Vatican’s doctrine chief, said the “great mistake” was to bring the “idols” into the church in the first place.

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/oct/25/pope-apologises-for-theft-of-amazon-statue-from-rome-church

[uriel1972]

1. Pope apologizes...

for the RCC dividing the "New World" between Spain and Portugal, for their looting, murder and rapine?

not likely, but waiting.

[appalachiablue]

2. Righto but the vandals, 'worshippers' don't see things that way

do they. It never ceases...