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Reuters
Reuters
Entertainment
By Philip Pullella

Pope Francis orders return to Greece of Parthenon sculptures held in Vatican

One of the three fragments of Parthenon Sculptures housed by the Vatican Museum that Pope Francis decided to return to Athens, is displayed in this undated photo provided by Vatican Museum. Vatican Museum/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES

Pope Francis has decided to return to Greece three 2,500-year-old pieces of the Parthenon that have been in the papal collections of the Vatican Museums for more than a century.

The Vatican said in a brief statement on Friday that the pope was giving them to Ieronymos II, the head of the Greek Orthodox Church, as a gesture of ecumenical dialogue with the Roman Catholic Church.

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