The Holy See announced yesterday the decision of Pope Francis to return to Greece three fragments of the Parthenon in Athens that were guarded in the pontifical collections since the 19th century, and exposed to millions of visitors from around the world in the Vatican Museums.
These are three Pentelic marble heads that reached the funds of the Vatican Museums two centuries ago, after various sales operations. One of them is a head of one of the horses of Athena's chariot, on the western pediment of the temple, which represented the battle for domination of Attica with the god Poseidon. Another is of one of the young people who carried offerings during the processions of the Panatheneas, and the third represents a man with a beard, belonging to the south side of the Parthenon with the battle between the lapitas and centaurs.
According to a brief statement from the Vatican press office, Francis has decided to deliver these fragments as a "concrete sign of the sincere desire to continue the ecumenical path", the movement that seeks the unity of the Christian branches, for which he donates them directly the leader of the Greek Orthodox Church, the Archbishop of Athens, Jerome II. The Jesuit pope has established dialogue with other religions as one of the pillars of his pontificate, and last year he already met with Jerome on the occasion of Francis' trip to Cyprus and Athens. Then the Pontiff recognized the mistakes made by the Catholics after the many disagreements in the past between Rome and Athens, especially since the Greeks blame the Vatican for the fall of Constantinople in 1453.
Athens had wanted these fragments to return to Greece for many years, but in 2007 Benedict XVI refused their return. Now, the papal return comes at a time when the debate on the decolonization of European museums is open, and also when secret negotiations are taking place between the United Kingdom and Greece on the return of the Parthenon marbles. The commitment to put an end to a dispute of centuries, which seems to be close, would consist of the delivery of these vestiges to Athens so that they would end up in a new archaeological museum, in exchange for Greece lending London other valuable pieces never seen in the country.
Also Italy, another country victim of plunder, announced in January the return to Athens of a marble fragment of the Parthenon frieze that was in a Sicilian museum. "After the reunification of the Fagan fragment (from Palermo) on the eastern frieze of the Parthenon, the three fragments from the Vatican will be reunited again in their respective places in the Acropolis Museum", celebrated the director of the Acropolis Museum, Nikolaos Stambolidis. The Greek government thanked Francis for the "generous" return of the fragments, and assured that the Vatican's passage helps Athens' efforts to recover the marbles from the British Museum.
