The commission approved proposals to create themed chapels on a “discovery trail”, with an emphasis on Africa and Asia, while quotes from the Bible will be projected onto chapel walls in various languages, including Mandarin and Arabicd. The final chapel on the trail will have a strong environmental emphasis.
Confessional boxes will be replaced with modern art murals, and new sound and light effects to create “emotional spaces”.
Moderne kunst skal inngå sammen med gammel. Pater Gilles Drouin sier dette har vært gjort til alle tider og viser til gullkortet som kardinal Lustiger fikk plassert i kirken i 1994.
Hvis man skal få en ide om hvordan moderne kunst forandrer kirkerommet kan man besøke domkirken i Hamar. Der har Håkon Gullvåg fått nesten alle veggene til sine bilder. De «overdøver» at det er et hellig rom. Det er nærmest en privatisering av kirken, eller ekspropriering. Noe lignende ser ut til å være planen for Notre Dame.
However, the plans have sparked fury in some quarters.
Reacting to the vote, one high-placed Notre-Dame critic told The Telegraph: «In France, what is called modernisation amounts to vandalism.»
The petition in Le Figaro entitled “Notre-Dame de Paris: What the fire spared, the diocese wants to destroy” expressed horror at the plans, which it said were reminiscent of so many “‘immersive’ cultural projects where very often the inane vies with the kitsch” and risked “totally adulterating the decor and liturgical space”.