Pope Francis orders Vatican Museums to return Parthenon marble sculptures to Greece

The three fragments, held by the Vatican since the 19th century, consist of a head of a boy, a bearded male head, and a part of a horse's head.

In announcing the decision, the Vatican termed the gesture a "donation" from Francis to His Beatitude Ieronymos II, the Orthodox Christian archbishop of Athens and all Greece, and said it was "a concrete sign of his sincere desire to follow in the ecumenical path of truth." The relief with the head of a boy has been identified as one of the figures from the frieze that went round the cella of the temple: he is carrying a tray of votive cakes which were offered during the Panathenaic procession in honour of Athena. (Vatican Museums) The bearded male head has been attributed to one of the metopes from the southern side of the building where there was a battle between the Lapiths and Centaurs. (Vatican Museums) The head of a horse comes from the west front of the building, on which Athena and Poseidon were shown competing for dominion over Attica; the fragment here has been identified as the fourth horse pulling Athena's chariot. (Vatican Museums) Jeff Zymeri is a Fox News Digital Production Assistant. Find him on Twitter @jeffzymeri

Greece's Culture Ministry and the Acropolis Museum welcomed the move.