Again and again throughout the Mass, word and gesture proclaim the Real Presence. What explains the liberal Catholic reluctance to pursue the question?
Rather than pagan nature-worship, perhaps the statue of a pregnant woman suggests that the Amazonian people are bringing the seeds of the gospel to fruition.
The veneration of relics is a hard thing for many Catholics of this time and culture to wrap their minds around. But the practice is humanizing, not superstitious.