Pope orders return of Parthenon Sculpture fragments
The Vatican announced Friday that Pope Francis has chosen to return to Greece the three fragments of Parthenon sculptures that have been kept in the Vatican Museums for centuries.
The pope made the gesture as a “donation” to His Beatitude Ieronymos II, the Orthodox Christian archbishop of Athens and all Greece, according to the Vatican “as a concrete sign of his sincere desire to follow in the ecumenical path of truth.”
The sculptures were once part of a 160-meter-long frieze that encircled the Parthenon temple on the Acropolis, which was devoted to Athena, the goddess of wisdom. A 17th century bombardment caused significant damage, and British diplomat Lord Elgin dismantled almost half the remaining works at the beginning of the 19th century.
