Pope secretly orders new chapel for new millenium

Copyright 1998 by Agence France-Presse
Wed, 15 Apr 1998 

VATICAN CITY, April 15 (AFP) - Pope Jean Paul II has secretly ordered a new 
chapel to be built inside the Vatican in celebration of the new millenium, 
his spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said Wednesday.

Building work began two years ago on the site of the old Mathilde chapel on 
the second floor of the Vatican and is being decorated by a mosaic by Russian 
artist Alexandre Kornukhov. It will be inaugurated in 2000.

In an article on the new chapel, the Italian weekly Oggi, said that the 
mosaic will cover the entire interior with nearly two million pieces of 
glass, gold, silver and other precious materials.

The design, Oggi reported, is inspired by writings in the 1987 papal 
encyclical, "Redemptoris Mater" (Mother of the Redeemer).

Kornukhov was given the commission on the basis of a recommendation to the 
pope by Russian poet Loga Sedkova, Oggi reported.

The artist has won numerous international prizes and has also been chosen 
to create a peace monument in the Italian city of Ravenna, a renowned centre 
for mosaics.

It is traditional for each pope to leave his mark on the Vatican walls. So 
far John Paul has commissioned a fresco in Saint Peter's square and launched 
the restoration of the Sistine chapel financed by a Japanese television 
network.