I closed yesterday by noting of the people having hysterics over Our Lady of the Amazon that just an ounce of charity would have prevented this whole ridiculous Panic du Jour. A reader replies:<\/p>\n
You make a lot of good points. But why can\u2019t you (among others) admit that the problem here is not all because of wackos with tinfoil hats. If the Synod was to help appreciate the Amazon culture, then why didn\u2019t the Holy See Press Office have a prepared explanation of the image?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I will be happy to admit that. It was part of what I was leading up to with yesterday\u2019s post. The Vatican\u2019s \u201cmessaging\u201d (as the kids call it these days) was spectacularly inept. Liz Dodd does the autopsy here<\/a>:<\/p>\n
The Vatican hasn\u2019t helped. One of the synod\u2019s organisers, Fr Giacomo Costa, told a press conference that the statue definitely doesn\u2019t represent the Virgin Mary. Paolo Ruffini, prefect of the Vatican communications dicastery, said only that it \u201crepresents life\u201d. An Amazon bishop told our Rome Correspondent Christopher Lamb it is an image of life. \u201cEverything that is human is Christian,\u201d he said. Whatever it represents, what matters, I think, is whether God minds. A fear that he does was, perhaps, at the root of the theft.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Ya think?<\/p>\n
Again, all this could have been avoided had these clerics simply listened to the person who presented the statue to the Pope. She clearly called it Our Lady of the Amazon.<\/p>\n
\nI stand corrected. I've boosted the audio. This is what is said in Portuguese: \"Our Lady of the Amazon.\" Someone else says \"Ave Maria\". She continues \"the bride of the Church\", and then to the other woman \"give it to the Church, the Pope\" pic.twitter.com\/5cAy5c2ogE<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 Catholic Sat (@CatholicSat) October 7, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n