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Vatican communications chief denies Amazon Synod guests prostrated themselves before wooden statues Amazon Synod guests bow to wooded statues in Vatican gardens' ceremony prior to opening of Amazon Synod, Oct. 4, 2019, Rome. VATICAN CITY, October 25, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) ― A top Vatican media official declared today that there had been no ceremony in the Vatican Gardens in which guests of the Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazonian region prostrated themselves.  Despite video footage of the October 4 event that clearly shows men and women in a circle bowing to the ground before various statues — one of which...

[Catholic Caucus] Pope calls statues ‘Pachamamas’ and apologizes for their removal from church ROME, October 25, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) – Pope Francis has called the carved wooden statues at the center of an idolatry scandal in the Vatican “Pachamama statues,” confirming suspicions that the statues were idols of the Incan fertility goddess. Speaking to attendees at the Amazon Synod, he apologized as “the bishop of Rome” to those who were offended at the statues being removed from the church and thrown into the Tiber.  He also said the statues have been displayed without intending to be idolatrous. Read the full transcript of...