@rhemes1582 anti-Catholics post images of Catholics kneeling before statues of the Virgin Mary as incontrovertible evidence and proof that Catholics worship statues. That lie is based on ignorance. As for the images you present as proof that Pope Francis is a bad pope, one need only watch the event in context. It’s simply another lie based on ignorance. All over the traditionalist social media the claim that the natives were bowing down and worshipping the “Pachamama idol” is based on an edited video snippet. In reality, they were thanking God our Father, for the goodness of Creation. What most people saw was an edited clip. The event was in the context of the feast of Saint Francis of Assisi where in the ceremony they sang St. Francis’ Canticle of the Sun, where St. Francis gives thanks to God for “Brother Sun” “Sister Moon” and “Mother Earth”. Those are the words of St. Francis of Assisi.
The problem is that people were too lazy to watch the entire event, and put their faith in the Internet, sensational headlines, and all the talking heads who see everything through their smoke colored political glasses. Since they obviously did not understand the Spanish, Portuguese and Italian that was spoken at the ceremony, they based their conclusions on pictures and edited video.
The gossip and the false news narrative drowned out the truth, and people were reacting and taking sides on the false narratives, and not the real intentions.
The simple intention of Pope Francis was to put a real face on the problems in the Amazonian regions, as detailed in his apostolic exhortation Querida Amazonia. Previously, Pope Benedict XVI had condemned the injustices against the Amazonian people and decried the devastation to the the Amazon Basin and the ramifications it has caused to entire populations. In Querida Amazonia, Pope Francis described the terrible injustices which has decimated lands, polluted rivers, displaced populations and created all kinds of social problems, including exploitation, sex trafficking, drug trafficking and massive destruction of the ecology in the name of money.
Here is that ceremony on context if you want to bother to watch It. The wooden statue was part of a display, along with a parrot, canoes and fishing nets and other items representing Amazonian regions. In the end you will see these same people planting trees giving thanks to God Our Father our Creator, and not “installing demons” or worshipping pagan idols as you may have heard on the Internet. Here is the video:
youtu.be/wPK7RpoUzPk