The constant veneration and display of the demon Pachamama during the Amazon Synod must not be simply waved aside.
Two things for the record.
Card. Cupich of Chicago has defended the veneration of this demon idol, though that is not what he thinks it is. Lifesite HERE Chicago Catholic HERE on 6 November. He writes with anger about how “statues” were taken from Santa Maria in Traspontina and thrown into the river. He write:
The artwork from the Amazon region depicted a pregnant woman, a symbol of motherhood and the sacredness of life, that represents for indigenous peoples the bond humanity has with our “mother earth,” much as St. Francis of Assisi portrayed in his Canticle of the Creatures.
He then admits that the statues were from a “pagan” culture. But he then defends the … respect?… they were shown threw his understanding of inculturation. The argument is… remarkable. It’s not convincing, however.
Moving overseas, we find a defense of Pachamama veneration the Bishop Emeritus of San Cristóbal de las Casas, Felipe Arizmendi Esquivel in, of all places, the Vatican’s daily L’Osservatore Romano of 12 November!
?È una divinità la Pachamama?
Is Pachama a diety?
You won’t be surprised to learn that, NO!, indeed not. She is really a manifestation of our respect for the love of God through our respect for “mother nature” which God created. See?
Anni fa, durante un incontro del Celam che ho coordinato a Cochabamba, in Bolivia, sui diversi nomi di Dio nelle culture originarie del Cono Sud, ho chiesto a un indigeno aymara se, per la sua gente, la pachamama (la madre terra) e l’inti (il padre sole) erano dei e lui mi ha risposto: «Chi non ha ricevuto l’evangelizzazione li considera dei; per noi che siamo stati evangelizzati, non sono dei, ma i doni migliori di Dio». Risposta stupenda! Questo sono! Sono manifestazioni dell’amore di Dio, non dei.
Years ago, during a meeting of the CELAM which I coordinated in Cochabamba, Bolivia, on the different names of God in the original cultures of the Southern Cone, I asked an indigenous Aymara if, for his people, pachamama (mother earth) and the inti (the sun father) were gods and he replied: ‘Those who have not received evangelization consider them gods; for us who have been evangelized, they are not gods, but God’s best gifts ». Wonderful answer! This is it! They are manifestations of God’s love, not gods.
So there it is.
I guess that if it walks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then its a prairie dog.
UPDATE:
Meanwhile, the woman who was the “priestess” in the Vatican Gardens idol fiasco at the beginning of October, said what it was all about. HERE
The female indigenous leader who planted a tree alongside Pope Francis in the Vatican Gardens ahead of the Amazon Synod was clear from the beginning about the syncretistic and pagan meaning of the act which, she explains, was intended to “satisfy the hunger of Mother Earth” and reconnect with “the divinity present in the Amazonian soil.”
In an October 4 statement that went under the radar during the Synod itself, Ednamar de Oliveira Viana, of the Maués region in Brazil, says of the Vatican Garden tree-planting ceremony: “To plant … is believing in a growing and fruitful life to satisfy the hunger of Mother Earth’s creation. This brings us to our origin by reconnecting divine energy and teaching us the way back to the Creator Father.”
I dunno. That doesn’t sound good to me.
There are a lot of kabuki dances going on to explain away what sure looked like demonic idol veneration.
No… correction… kabuki is quite beautiful. Nothing about the idol or the explanations is beautiful. It is more like Three Card Monte with all the teamwork. We got a dealer (also called a “tosser”… ya, I know…) and some shills in the crowd who place bets to give punters the idea they could win. And their muscle will eventually manifest, who takes out some of the naysayers.
The constant veneration and display of the demon Pachamama during the Amazon Synod must not be simply waved aside.
Did you know that in the Roman Rite we use liturgical lemons?
Today you will want to read about Card. Sarah at Crisis.
Sometimes we Catholics use technical terms which, over time, have become a little confusing. For example, recently I wrote a clarification about what praying for the “Pope’s intentions” really means.
Here’s a refresher about a good opportunity news! The wonderful, 
Was there a 
fac on My Annual St Crispin’s Day roundup with Henry V speech!: ““We few. We happy few. … You know your places. God be with you.””
