On board the papal plane, April 30 (EFE).- 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 today’s press conference on his return from his trip to Hungary.

“As far as possible, please, this should be done,” Pope Francis told reporters on the flight back to Rome from Budapest, which he has been visiting for three days.

The pope touched on the issue when asked about the demands of Indigenous peoples in Canada who are hoping that the Vatican Museums return some items that missionaries brought to Europe and are now claiming as part of the reparations process. for the treatment they suffered, also partly from 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 series of indigenous objects that the museums of the Holy See have kept since 1925.

According to Francisco, these negotiations “are in progress” and the dialogue with the indigenous peoples has been “very fruitful”.

The Vatican Museums returned to Greece earlier this year three fragments of the Parthenon that were on display, on the orders of Pope Francis and as a gesture to the country’s Orthodox Church.

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

“This is the seventh commandment, 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 has added that a “discernment” must be made on 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 things from others. The Parthenon was a right gesture, it had to be done,” he added.

And he added that “to the extent that it can be restored, it must”, it is a gesture that “it is better to do” but “sometimes it is not possible because of a political impossibility or real, but as far as possible, please do so, so that you don’t get used to digging into other people’s pockets”.