Vatican City, Vatican – Because of its outstanding beauty, the Redemptoris Mater Chapel in the Vatican is regarded as a "modern Sistine". The work of renovation began in 1996, thanks to Pope John Paul II, on the occasion of his 50th anniversary of priesthood. Millions of small fragments of stones, of very different kinds, adorn this magnificent work. The stones are from different places: from mountains where witnesses to the faith of the twentieth century were martyred, from caves with prehistoric paintings, from seaside beaches and river banks.