Pope Francis opens door to returning colonial era items to original homes

Pope Francis was speaking to journalists on his flight back to Rome from Hungary (Vincenzo Pinto/Pool Photo Via AP)

Pope Francis said on Sunday that talks were underway to return colonial-era artifacts in the Vatican Museum that were acquired from indigenous peoples in Canada and voiced a willingness to return other problematic objects in the Vatican’s collection on a case-by-case basis.

“The Seventh Commandment comes to mind – if you steal something you have to give it back,” Francis said during an airborne press conference en route home from Hungary.