The Pope is willing to restore acts of colonization

He pope Francis He expressed his willingness to return, as far as possible, works of art from the time of the colonization of America that are in the collections of the Vatican Museums and are deposited by indigenous peoples, during a press conference on the occasion of the return of his trip to Hungary.

“To the extent that it is possible, please, it must be done,” Pope Francis said to journalists during his return to Rome from Budapest, which he visited for three days already.

The Pope addressed this issue when asked about the demands indigenous peoples of Canada that they hope the Vatican Museums will return some items brought to Europe by the missionaries and which they are now seeking as part of the reparations process for the treatment they suffered, also at the hands of the Catholic Church.

During his trip to Canada in July 2022 Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and indigenous associations asked Pope Francis that the Vatican return a number of indigenous objects that the museums of the Holy See have kept since 1925.

According to Francis these negotiations are “in progress” and the dialogue with the indigenous population was “very fruitful”.

The Vatican Museums returned three fragments of the Parthenon to Greece earlier this year which were exhibited, by the decision of Pope Francis and as a gesture to the Orthodox Church in the country.

Three fragments of the pediment, frieze and metope from the Parthenon they have been kept in museums since the 19th century.

“The seventh commandment is, if you have stolen…” the Pope said, explaining that he is available to return works of art or objects in the possession of the Vatican Museums, although he added that “discernment” must be made in each case because “If the Egyptians come looking, we cannot return the obelisk (in St. Peter’s Square)”.

“Sometimes wars and colonizations force them to take other people’s things. The Parthenon thing was a fair gesture, it had to be donehe added

And he added that “to the extent that it can be restored, it is necessary”. For the Pope to return art from the time of the colonization of America It is a gesture that “is better to do”, but “sometimes it is not possible due to political or real impossibilitybut to the extent that it is possible, please do not get used to reaching into other people’s pockets”.