In Rome, yesterday, Tuesday 07 March 2023, the Vatican and Greece signed the papers for the return of three sculpture fragments from the Parthenon that have been in the collection of the Vatican Museums for two centuries.
This marks, the latest case of a Western museum returning artefacts to their country of origin, the third return for Greece's quest to reunite the Parthenon Marbles. The first was from Heidelberg, the second from Palermo and yesterday, the Vatican.
The Vatican has called the return an ecumenical “donation” to the Orthodox Christian archbishop of Athens and all Greece, not necessarily a state-to-state transfer. Will this add pressure on the British Museum to find a way forward with Greece over the fate of its much bigger collection of Parthenon sculptures? George Osborne has been quoted by a number of media outlets saying that the British Museum's wish is to 'share the sculptures' and call it a 'Parthenon Partnership'. For many, this British Museum stance continues to disregard the meaning of the sculptures in relation to the Parthenon, which still stands.
The head of the Vatican city-state, Cardinal Fernando Vergez, signed the agreement to implement the “donation” during a private Vatican Museums ceremony, which took place yesterday with Greek Culture Minister Lina Mendoni, and a representative of the Orthodox Christian archbishop of Athens and all Greece, His Beatitude Ieronymos II.
The envoy, Father Emmanuel Papamikroulis, told The Associated Press that the Greek Orthodox Church and archbishop were grateful to Pope Francis for this donation.
“It has taken place at a difficult time for our country, and it will hopefully provide some sense of pride and happiness. I hope this initiative is followed by others,” he said after the signing ceremony.
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