Two weeks ahead of their official unveiling, plans for a modernized interior for Paris’s fire-ravaged Notre Dame Cathedral have lit off a firestorm of their own, with some critics calling it names like “woke travesty” “experimental showroom” and “politically correct Disneyland.”
Among the proposed changes are softer lighting, more modern art, moving seldom-used confessionals to an upper area, and projecting Bible quotes in various languages on the walls. The church’s side chapels, many in need of renovation before the fire, would take on changes as well. The sharpest criticism seems to be focused on a plan to include banners in different languages including Mandarin.
In the April 15, 2019 fire, the greatest damage was to the roof, vaults and spire, with amazingly little damage to the lower interiors, the parts seen most by visitors. After flirting with various ‘modern’ schemes, the French government decided on an exterior restoration to match the pre-fire state, but that decision did not apply to the interior.
Father Gilles Drouin has led the redesign of the interior, which will be presented to the National Heritage and Architecture Commission on Dec. 9th. Drouin hopes to convince the commission that the changes are not radical, and said his objective was to preserve Notre-Dame as “a religious place that can better welcome and inform the public who are not always from a Christian culture.
Image: PHeymont/TravelGumbo
