Greece and the Vatican finalised the last part of the return on Tuesday (Greece time) of three sculpture fragments from the Parthenon that have been in the collection of the Vatican Museums for two centuries.
The head of the Vatican city-state, Cardinal Fernando Vergez, signed an agreement to implement the “donation” during a private Vatican Museums ceremony with Greek Culture Minister Lina Mendoni and a representative of the Orthodox Christian Archbishop of Athens and all Greece, Ieronymos II.
The fragments are expected to arrive in Athens later this month, with a 24 March ceremony planned to receive them.
Cardinal Fernando Vérgez Alzaga, President of the Governorate of the State of the Vatican City, said that “This donation is a gesture of peace at this historic moment, which has been marked, so much so, by wars. This gesture wants to build bridges of fraternity and to show the world that there is always a path to dialogue and peace, as we hope can happen in the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. The most important value of this act is to see, once again, how the Pope’s art collections become a privileged point of friendship between peoples, religions and Churches, overcoming all obstacles.”
The Vatican has termed the restitution of the artifacts an ecumenical “donation” to the Orthodox Christian Archbishop of Athens and all Greece, not necessarily a state-to-state transfer. Another return, expected to put pressure on the British Museum to conclude a deal with Greece over the fate of its much bigger collection of Parthenon sculptures.
“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,” Vatican’s envoy Father Emmanuel Papamikroulis, told AP that the Greek Orthodox Church and archbishop were grateful to Pope Francis for the deal.
“This initiative does help heal wounds of the past and it demonstrates that when Christian leaders work together, they can resolve issues in a practical way,” Papamikroulis added.
Finally, minister Mendoni expressed mixed emotions in her address quoting the tragedy in Tempe as the reason not allowing Greece to celebrate the ceremony of signing the protocol of donation.
“I would like to thank and particularly mention that, from the very first moment, Pope Francis, joining us all in prayer for the souls of the victims, spoke warm words of support and love to their families, so that they may find the strength to overcome this great grief,” she said.
“On behalf of the Greek Government and the Greek people, I would like to express our grateful thanks to His Holiness Pope Francis, to Cardinal Fernando Vérgez Alzaga and his collaborators, and especially to the Director of the Vatican Museums, Prof. Barbara Jatta, who prepared the return to Greece, at the Acropolis Museum, of the three fragments of the Parthenon decoration, through Archbishop Ieronymos.”
