VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis has brought to a close a three-week meeting on protecting the Amazon and ministering to its indigenous people, a gathering hit by outrage by conservatives over the display of indigenous statues featuring a naked, pregnant woman.

More than 180 bishops were voting on the final text of the synod on Saturday. In the synod hall were two of the statues that conservatives declared were pagan idols and had thrown into the Tiber River.

The most controversial proposals under consideration at the meeting were whether married men can be ordained priests, and women deacons, to address the acute shortage of clergy in the Amazon region, where isolated communities can go months without having a proper Mass.