Pope Francis was willing to return, as far as possible, the works of art from the time of the colonization of America present in the collections of the Vatican Museums and claimed by the indigenous peoples, during the press conference today on the return from his trip to Hungary.
“To the extent that it is possible, please, it must be done,” Pope Francis told reporters during the flight back to Rome from Budapest, which he has been visiting for three days.
The Pope addressed this issue when asked about the petitions of the indigenous peoples of Canada that they hope that the Vatican Museums will return some objects that the missionaries brought to Europe and that they now claim as part of the reparation process for the treatment they suffered, also by the Catholic Church.
During his trip to Canada in July 2022, Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeauand the indigenous associations asked Pope Francis for the Vatican to return a series of indigenous objects that the museums of the Holy See have kept since 1925.
According to Francisco, these negotiations “are underway” and the dialogue with the indigenous peoples has been “very fruitful.”
The Vatican Museums three fragments of the Parthenon were returned to Greece earlier this year that were exposed, by decision of Pope Francis and as a gesture to the Orthodox Church of the country.
The three fragments of the pediment, the frieze and a metope from the Parthenon have been kept in the Museums since the 19th century.
“It is the seventh commandment, if you have stolen…”, said the Pope, explaining that he is available to return the works of art or objects in the possession of the Vatican Museums, although he added that a “discernment” must be made in each case because “if the Egyptians come to claim, we cannot return the obelisk (in Saint Peter’s Square)”.
“Sometimes wars and colonizations make them take other people’s things. The Parthenon thing was a fair gesture, it had to be done,” he added.
And he added that “to the extent that it can be restored, it is necessary”, it is a gesture that “it is better to do” but “sometimes it is not possible due to political or real impossibility, but to the extent that it is possible, please do it , so as not to get used to putting his hand in the pocket of others”.
(With information from EFE)
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Source-www.infobae.com