Vatican returns Parthenon sculptures to Greece

Three fragments of the Parthenon temple returned home from the Vatican on Thursday (March 24) in a special ceremony at the Acropolis Museum in Athens, highlighting Greece's ongoing effort to bring back sculptures from the British Museum.

The fragments were placed in the Parthenon Gallery, which holds the original pieces of the temple and plaster copies of those in the British Museum.

"This is a small part of the immense treasure. It would be wonderful if everything could come together in some way. We hope that it will," said Bishop Brian Farrell, Vatican secretary of the Pontifical Council for promoting Cristian unity.

The fragments have been in the papal collections of the Vatican Museums for more than a century and Pope Francis ordered their return last December.

The pope donated them to Ieronymos, the head of the Greek Orthodox Church, as a gesture of ecumenical dialog with the Roman Catholic Church.

"My personal heartfelt wish is that this initiave is mimicked by others. Pope Francis showed that this is possible," said Ieronymos at the ceremony.

Greece has repeatedly called for the return of the Parthenon Marbles - known in Britain as the Elgin Marbles - that British diplomat Lord Elgin removed from the Parthenon temple in Athens in the early 19th century, when Greece was under Ottoman rule.

"The ceremony today, which completes the exceptionally generous gesture by Pope Francis, similar to the gesture by the government of Sicily and the Republic of Italy a few months ago, shows the road that we could follow, that everyone could follow, in order for the unity of the Parthenon to be restored, in the place where this should happen, which is none otherwise than Attica, Athens," said Greek Culture Minister Lina Mendoni.

George Osborne, chair of the British Museum, has been working on a new arrangement with Greece through which the sculptures could be seen both in London and in Athens.

Osborne has played down the prospect of a permanent return of the marbles, citing the potential legal hurdles.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said there are no plans to amend legislation which states the museum can only dispose of objects within its collection in limited circumstances. However, the museum could still arrange a loan of the sculptures.

Mendoni said on Thursday Greece was willing to provide the British Museum with artefacts to exhibit in place of the marbles, but Greece could never accept a 'loan' of something the country considered as stolen.

"There is no question of exchange. We want the marbles to return to their home and after that we know how to return the generosity of our friends," said Mendoni.