Mary of the Amazon | NOT Pachamama (update included)

Here is a link to the most recent article from the Where Peter Is blog regarding the controversial statue of Our Lady of the Amazon: https://wherepeteris.com/our-lady-of-the-amazon-a-rorschach-test/.  Here is another good article I found this morning, from The Tablet: https://www.thetablet.co.uk/blogs/1/1313/the-dishonest-cruelty-of-the-thief-who-drowned-our-lady-of-the-amazon. These two, along with the other articles on the topic at Where Peter Is, provide most of the information and reflections that I would share. I have just a few things to add.

Here is part of my comment on the first linked post:

"With respect to the bowing, the thing is that we don’t really know the context. The bowing may have been simply part of the ceremony. It could have been a prayer to God. It could have been an acknowledgement of the gifts of the Earth, a simple sign of thanksgiving (which ultimately goes to God as the Earth’s Creator). It could have been in veneration to Mary. When I pray before a statue of Mary, I bow my head. I don’t think that’s idolatry. It’s a common Catholic practice. As far as the Vatican spokesmen trying to be diplomatic, if it’s true, it doesn’t make sense. The statue could in fact be both a symbol of Amazonian life, and an image of Our Lady of the Amazon. Mary is, after all, Mother of the New Creation. She is the New Eve. She is the highest, most pure example of motherhood and womanhood. This wouldn’t even be syncretism, in my view. It could be a perfectly orthodox Catholic way of understanding the meaning of the statue. Pope Francis blessed the statue, with the knowledge that it was intended to be Our Lady of the Amazon. And I think that’s how it should be received by all of us. This, to me, is the most charitable, accurate interpretation. That a Vatican spokesperson could be ignorant of the intentions because he hasn’t taken the time to ask the woman who lead the tree planting ceremony herself, is very unfortunate. It gives fuel to the hyper conservatives to continue to insist on the Pachamama theory, which there is no evidence for. I feel at peace with the ceremony and the Marian interpretation, as well as the idea of it also being a symbol of the abundance of the Earth and Amazonian life."

The both/and perspective is a distinctive feature of the Catholic Faith, which I emphasized above. The carved wooden statue of an Amazonian pregnant woman, kneeling and bowing in prayer, was called Our Lady of the Amazon by the woman presiding at the event herself. There is video evidence of this. That fact is not in dispute. I find it extremely hard to believe that Francis would have blessed the statue if it were a pagan idol. There is further video evidence for the statue being the Blessed Mother Mary from REPAM in 2018, which you can watch, with a translation of the Spanish Christmas song, at Where Peter Is: https://wherepeteris.com/our-lady-of-the-amazon-2018-video-footage-emerges/. In addition, there is testimony from a priest who was involved in the organization of the tree planting ceremony who confirmed it being Mary, and I think his statement backs up my both/and take on the matter. 

No one involved with the Amazon Synod ever called the statue Pachamama. That was the invention of someone's imagination. If you do a Google search of Pachamama images, there are dozens of variations. None of them look like the statue. As a goddess revered by the Incas of the Andes, she is often portrayed as having a mountain for her body. I'm not even sure that she's a deity of the Amazonian region under discussion at the Synod. Yet mere speculation is given as proof of paganism and idol worship by the Synod's detractors.

Some people, conceding that the statue could be Mary, object to its nudity. They believe that portraying Mary nude is disrespectful to her. But there is a difference between an objective, moral wrong and something that makes one subjectively feel uncomfortable. 

I remember feeling surprised and slightly uncomfortable myself when I discovered classical Catholic paintings of Our Lady with an exposed breast. She is the Virgin of the Milk. 

This type of painting is a much more true-to-life, elaborate representation than the primitive wooden statue. It would be hypocritical to complain about the statue's nudity while thinking the European paintings are perfectly acceptable. In fact, it could be taken as bigotry and racism against the Amazonian peoples and their culture. That is exactly how some are interpreting the theft of the statues from the church in Rome which were then dumped by the thieves into the river. If those men really believed what they were doing was devout and righteous, why hide their faces? Why not proudly come forward if they have committed no crime? Why not allow themselves to be martyred if they are charged with stealing? 

How sad and discouraged the Catholic Amazonians must be who came to Rome full of hope and goodwill. That's why I feel compelled to be a positive voice amongst the cacophony of hatred and hysteria expressed in some segments of the Catholic media. I converted to Catholicism with the understanding that I would humble myself before the authority of the Pope and the Church, which is the authority of Christ himself. This is not blind obedience. It's called faith. 

Update: Pope Francis made a public statement after the stolen statues were retrieved.

“Good afternoon. I want to say a word about the statues of the pachamama that were taken from the church of the Transpontina – which were there without idolatrous intentions – and were thrown into the Tiber.

First of all, this happened in Rome, and, as Bishop of the Diocese, I ask pardon of the persons who were offended by this act.

Then, I want to communicate to you that the statues which created such attention in the media, were retrieved from the Tiber. The statues were not damaged.”  

The pope's use of the word "pachamama" was then clarified:

“In his remarks, the pope used the phrase 'the pachamama statues' but in the transcript the word pachamama was in italics.

Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said the pope used the word as a means to identify the statues because that is the way they have become known in the Italian media and not as a reference to the goddess.” 

I would point out also that pachamama can be used generally to simply mean "mother earth," as that is the literal translation of the word, and this would be consistent with certain comments by Vatican spokespersons. Interestingly, Pope Francis has a book coming out titled, Our Mother Earth. The final document for the Amazon Synod has yet to be released. So between these two publications, more controversy is sure to come. But for those of us who keep the Faith, we shall inherit true joy.