VIENNA (ChurchMilitant.com) - One of two men who threw the Pachamama idols into Rome's Tiber river, has contracted coronavirus and is asking for prayers.
Catholic author Taylor Marshall reported on Sunday that Alexander Tschugguel is convalescing in his native Austria after catching coronavirus and is in great need of prayers. Tshugguel made headlines in October when he and another man tossed several Pachamama idols into the river during the Amazon Synod.
"Alexander Tschugguel has the coronavirus and is in bed with a high fever for a week," announced Marshall. "He and his wife would like to start a prayer call for him. He's not in good shape but so far out of the hospital. It's really got him in a bad way."
Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò praised Tschugguel in November as a "hero" for defending the first Commandment that forbids idolatry.
"Like many others, including Bp. Athanasius Schneider and Prof. Roberto de Mattei, I think that this young man is a hero," Viganò told Inside the Vatican magazine. "He is a person who wished to defend the first Commandment."
He was likewise heralded as a hero by many Catholics for standing against what many considered an act of idolatry committed by worshippers of Pachamama statues in the Vatican during the Amazon Synod.
After chucking several statues off the bridge in front of Castel St. Angelo, Tschugguel told Church Militant that he had received broad-based support from Catholics in Austria, France, Germany, Britain, Italy and elsewhere including the United States.
"People are fed up so much that they really want to do something. They really want to speak out," remarked Tschugguel. "They want to be Catholic. They just want to be Catholic, because the Catholic Church is a missionary Church. We do not hide our faith."
Regarding the Vatican's use of the Pachamama statues in its liturgies, he revealed, "I was of course very surprised that they [the Vatican] were talking very publicly about that these statues are 'Pachamamas.' They kind of even gave me some push in the right direction, because it showed me that I was not wrong in thinking that they were pagan goddess statues."
"I really want to lift up everyone who is suffering at this time but especially Alexander Tschugguel," added Marshall.
He then wonders aloud whether the seeming global pandemic is related to the worship of Pachamama in the Vatican.
Marshall asks, "Is this [coronavirus] related to the Pachamama scandal that happened?"
President of the Italian Episcopal Conference, Cdl. Gualtiero Bassetti, is thinking along the same lines.
In March, Bassetti apparently conceded that the coronavirus pandemic may be interpreted as a form of chastisement owing to a rebellion against God. Asked during an interview earlier this month if coronavirus was a divine chastisement, Bassetti responded by quoting Scripture.
"Your wickedness will chasten you, and your apostasy will reprove you," stated Bassetti (Jeremiah, 2:19).
Above is the astonishing footage that captures the moment when Tschugguel stood on the bridge in front of Castel St. Angelo and cast the Pachamama idols into the Tiber.
Marshall finished his plea by urging Catholics to specifically pray the Rosary for Tschugguel.
"Pray the Rosary for Alexander. If you don't pray the Rosary every day, you're not on the team," noted Marshall. "Let's lift up a guy on the team, Alexander Tschugguel. He has corona. Pray for him."
Church Militant confirmed with Tschugguel as of this printing that he continues to do poorly.
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