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Gregorio Borgia / AP
A statuette of the Virgin Mary and of baby Jesus are seen inside a tent of the Italian firefighters after being recovered from the chapel of the Costa Concordia cruise ship.
DigitalGlobe
The Costa Concordia ran aground Jan. 13 off the coast of Italy, resulting in the evacuation of thousands of passengers as the ship began heavily listing.
On Friday a plaster statue of the Madonna was recovered from the doomed Costa Concordia cruise liner’s chapel by fire department divers. She was displayed for the press on Saturday with a small baby Jesus that was also salvaged from the wreckage.
The man in charge of the team which rescued the statue said he had taken the time to recover the relic when there were still 21 people missing because "it seemed like the right thing to do."
"When we entered the crumbled churches around L'Aquila after the earthquake, we always recovered the sacred objects," Fabio told Reuters, asking that his last name not be used.
-- Reuters contributed to this blog post.
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I thought that she was supposed to save people.
Wow, all these people died and they think this piece of religious crap is important.
People today priorities are all outta whack.
Ya think that statue is anotomically (sp) correct?.....looks like a barbie doll with a shawl wrapped around it....bet there is a make believe blonde hair and boobs under there!! Where is Ken....didn't he make it?
@!$%#....
The sensitivity in this thread is amazing.
Yes, those Christian people are the ones on the wreck trying to find and save people. The Christian-haters are here trolling the response board. All anyone reading needs to know.
Ey amused muse why dont you save your sarcastic inmature comments for when you meet fidel castro,this complete catastrohic situation does not call for your lack of inmature comments,but I will show you how to behave and re-word your sarcasm,,,,,,,," Lord from the heavens above if its your will please bring consolation and peace to all who have been affected by this catastrophy,and forgive us for our sins,please encourage us all into being more sympathetic specially when involving saints etc into our inmature views,In your name I pray Jesus, AMEN!!
not trying to be sarcastic here(well, maybe just a little)...but couldn't the "Lord from the heavens above" have had the "will" and compassion to push that ship a bit to the left and spared a lot of grief?
Or couldn't the captain of the ship keep it on the charted course and spare a lot of grief?
Sorry, but when I saw the headline I thought it meant Madonna the singer!
I didn't know there were any others .............
There are others.....The first name of the poor woman whose children and parents were killed in that Christmas fire in Connecticut is Madonna....
That's prozactly what I thought - honeymoon for the Real Madonna and het umpteenth teen .........
The statue they recovered should not be prayed to, cause it is an IDOL, and will not help anyone! It's made of plaster or of other kind of material, so To those who consider these in your churches, they are just objects! As GOD says in the BIBLE, "NO ONE COMES TO THE FATHER, BUT BY ME"!!! It doesn't matter how many ritualistic statues, beads etc. is in a church, that is not going to help anyone! GOD talks abt it in the BIBLE to NOT BOW down to IDOLS!! there is no LIFE in those objets, so why PRAY to them?? GOD is the only one you PRAY to through HIS FATHER, LORD and SAVIOR, JESUS CHRIST, HIS SON!
Man do you have your information on the use of statues and rosaries in the Catholic Church!SCREWED UP!
We know you can't pray to them.Have you ever heard of photographs sir or madam?Well that's exactly what statues are.They are a reminder as to who were praying to.
We ask the saints to intercede pray for us, and ask God to help us when we are praying directly to God for that help, and it doesn't come. Sometimes you can use a littlee help.In other words sir or madam you kill two birds with one stone.That statue of that saint is only a reminder of that saint,just like a photograph of some one in your family!It's not alive, it has no power,it's just a reminder and an image,like a photograph.I don't know how many times I can emphasize and repeat it.
Those are reminders are the images of the saints, the Blessed Mother,Jesus Christ and so on.Only images sir just like photographs.The power isn't in the statues or images,it's in the prayers sent directly to God through them.
Now if you can't understand that,then I give up!
It sounds like he got his info on idolatry from the Amish.
.....prayer is the exact same thing as talking to yourself.....a sign of mental illness!!
I don't believe it is an "idol" but a representation of the real thing...
Fat lot of good those silly statues did anyone.....
Which would make sense because they are just statues - they don't have magical powers.
I, for one, see the value in retrieving the statues. As the diver said, it's the right thing to do, and it's hard to think of a better way to say it. This didn't take away from rescuing people, since it's very likely a recovery mission by this point, and religion is something that gives at least some people comfort in times of crisis. Seeing Mary wrapped in a towel like so many of the survivors were makes this a strong image. I'm not going to criticize the people who recovered her or those who find comfort in religion at a time like this.
Real people should come out before salvage is done. They must take their fairy tales serious.
Oh, will you atheists get over yourselves? If someone wants to believe in something why do you have to criticize it or demean it by calling it a "fairy tale"? Especially if those beliefs aren't hurting you.
Who was out there giving the 4000+ people who came off the ship food, water and blankets in the 9 hours immediately following the wreck? It wasn't you. It wasn't atheists. It was a group of local nuns.
.....because there is enough stupidness in the world already! it is a thousand years past time to put this idiocy aside for the real world problems we need to solve if our species is to survive.
As for the nuns giving food, water etc aid to those people...bravo to them....but, that is simply people helping people.....nothing whatsoever to do with make believe gods!
Here we go again...
Ten comments...... eight of which are symptomatic of the internet trolls who live for their glorious moments..... for those who choose to be non believers ( as in athiests )...... you profess that all religion is idiocracy..... yet you fervently espouse your beliefs on everyone. You choose to be the way you are..... and others choose to believe. I didn't see any of the believers commenting on your lack of beliefs..... you are entitled to believe as you choose. What gives you the right to criticize others? You simply don't have the right to do so.....
In the scheme of this overall picture and event..... are your comments useful? helpful? or do they shed any light on legitimate questions that others may have? No..... they only make you look like the biggest idiots that inhabit today's world. You come across in the same fashion as any of the religious zealots that you so openly despise.
I have my Christian beliefs ( and they are mine only and I don't share them with you ). You have your non beliefs..... can't we just agree to simply disagree. We all have "X" time on this earth..... the only question in life that can be answered with any degree of accuracy is that if you have been born, one day you will die. In between those two events there are no guarantees..... best advice I have ever seen is to make the most of each moment you have cause you only get to do this once.
Each moment of time spent being critical of others is time wasted..... tell me please.... how can you ever recover that time lost? It's impossible.... this ship can be lost and replaced, money can be lost and replaced, but lives have been lost are gone forever just like time lost is gone forever. It's a mess... we can all agree on that. Does it make you feel better to throw out some callous remarks..... really? Come on people..... have a little heart here..... show a little compassion for the victims..... it doesn't have to be a prayer for you non believers..... just a wish to those affected that maybe your thoughts are with them in their time of need. If it had been you on that ship.... some comforting words by others really would go a long way in the healing process.... try it sometime.... you might even find a feeling of self worth as a human.
If you can't do that..... just keep your bull@!$%# comments to yourself.....
Well said, Morbidcuriosity!
My thoughts and prayers are with all who have been so affected by this horrible accident.
@MorbidCurio(u)sity:
WOW ....
As long as those who do believe also keep it to themselves, don't knock on my door, or impose themselves otherwise ... sure.
Doc,
I didn't see anyone knocking on your door with their comments on the statues..... and I wholeheartedly agree about ANY zealots knocking on my door or imposing their beliefs on anyone....
This is a public forum.... views expressed by others with respect I have no problem with.... especially when the comments were not made with the intent to force their beliefs on me.
I have a problem with internet trolls..... can u understand that concept?
Best regards..... M/C
This idiot could have used all this time and effort to rescue real people, instead of wasting that effort on an object.
May be able save this ship and will if they can do so, leave the paraphernalia and get the folks who are still floating around somewhere, what a jerk!
The "Idiot" is only a rescuer from the fire department who has risked his life in 2009 digging through crumbling rubble to rescue survivors of an earthquake. He is now risking his life to hopefully rescue survivors of the ship, though lately they have only found bodies. No time was wasted in recovery the items in the chapel, At this point everyone pretty much knows it is now a recovery mission, the likelihood of finding survivors is slim. According to you, this guy is a "jerk" because when he entered the chapel searching for victims, he found the nearly submerged statue and other items, and chose to treat them with respect as they are religious items. The only idiot here is you spouting nonsense, as you probably have never engaged in a dangerous rescue operation in your life. But you set yourself up as judge and jury to convict this man. The only idiot and jerk I see here is you, it's the same idiot and jerk that looks back at you when you look in your mirror.
Time to put all foolishness aside, find the missing first, major priority for all, who is to say if no one left alive, you never know.
The statue pictured is Our Lady of Fatima. These statues are not made of plaster, but wood composite with inset glass eyes. These statues are hand painted; judging by the picture, this appears to be one of the quality artisan-made ones from Portugal. She would also have a gold crown inset with clear or colored stones on her head as seen in the picture. An example can be found at without the towel they wrapped around it.
I think it was the right thing to do. The diver was showing respect and that statue might mean a great deal to the person it belongs to. I doubt he would have taken the time to recover it if he thought it would be detrimental to the search.
For those of you who are agnostic, atheists, who don't believe in anything higher than your hat...you have a right to your opinion. But, so do Christians, Muslims, Mormons, Catholics, etc. What harm does it do to you, that others have faith in God and Jesus or Mohammad? I am not Catholic, but I find it inspiring that he believed in rescuing the religious object for the sake of those who need that comfort. Had it been a solid gold watch, I am sure you would have stopped for that...to those who are religious, use the visual idea that the Madonna statue is as tangible as solid gold, and most valuable in their hearts and minds of those people. and, may God have mercy on your miserable souls.
God can save all of us at any time. He has however given us free will. Like any parent He wants us to make good decisions. His safety net for us is no matter what happens in this world, relief awaits us after this life. My heart and prayers go out to everyone involved in this tragedy, even those who are responsible. Especially to those who don't believe in God. I hope someday you will know His peace like I do.
I havent seen it anywhere or maybe I missed it, but this ship sank exactly like the titanic exactly 100 years ago 1912
I think that the Madonna in her blanket should be given to the people of the Isola del Giglio in commemoration of the community's openhearted aid in the rescue of so many.
Oh!! "That" Madonna!