Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: Exodus 20:4,5
"The Vatican is considering pressing criminal charges against the "new iconoclasts" who removed the pagan "Pachamama" statues from the Church of Santa Maria del Traspontina and dumped them in the River Tiber Monday morning.
Vatican spokesmen have reacted with outrage after a local Italian newspaper carried a story on the unceremonious immersion of the fertility idols with the headline "Justice is done." REPAM, a Catholic network that advocates on behalf of Amazon peoples and is headed by Synod leader Cdl. Claudio Hummes, has condemned the act "of violence" in a statement published Monday.
"We deeply regret and at the same time denounce that in recent days we have been victims of acts of violence, which reflect religious intolerance, racism, oppressive attitudes, which affect above all indigenous peoples, a refusal to build new roads for the renewal of our Church," the statement read.
Calling the traditionalist Catholics who removed the statues "the new iconoclasts," Andrea Tornielli cited the writings of the newly canonized Cdl. John Henry Newman to support the adoption of pagan elements. Quoting Newman's 1878 Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine, he wrote:
"Others claim that the idols represent Mother Earth as described by St. Francis of Assisi in his Canticle to Brother Sun," Donnelly continued."
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"The Vatican is considering pressing criminal charges against the "new iconoclasts" who removed the pagan "Pachamama" statues from the Church of Santa Maria del Traspontina and dumped them in the River Tiber Monday morning.
Vatican spokesmen have reacted with outrage after a local Italian newspaper carried a story on the unceremonious immersion of the fertility idols with the headline "Justice is done." REPAM, a Catholic network that advocates on behalf of Amazon peoples and is headed by Synod leader Cdl. Claudio Hummes, has condemned the act "of violence" in a statement published Monday.
"We deeply regret and at the same time denounce that in recent days we have been victims of acts of violence, which reflect religious intolerance, racism, oppressive attitudes, which affect above all indigenous peoples, a refusal to build new roads for the renewal of our Church," the statement read.
Calling the traditionalist Catholics who removed the statues "the new iconoclasts," Andrea Tornielli cited the writings of the newly canonized Cdl. John Henry Newman to support the adoption of pagan elements. Quoting Newman's 1878 Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine, he wrote:
The use of temples, and these dedicated to particular saints, and ornamented on occasions with branches ofSaint Francis of Assisi is also showcased by the Vatican in defense of pagan idols: "An image of motherhood and the sacredness of life, a traditional symbol for indigenous peoples representing the bond with our 'mother earth,' as described by Saint Francis of Assisi in his Canticle of the Creatures, was thrown away with contempt in the name of tradition and doctrine," wrote Tornielli.trees, incense, lamps and candles; votive offerings on recovery from illness; holy water, asylums; holy days and seasons, use of calendars, processions, blessings on the fields, sacerdotal vestments, the tonsure, the ring in marriage, turning to the east, images at a later date, perhaps the ecclesiastical chant, and the Kyrie Eleison, are all of pagan origin, and sanctified by their adoption into the church.
"Others claim that the idols represent Mother Earth as described by St. Francis of Assisi in his Canticle to Brother Sun," Donnelly continued."
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