The Église du Bon-Pasteur is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

located at rue Neyret on the slopes of

La Croix-Rousse La Croix-Rousse is a hill high in the city of Lyon, France, as well as the name of a neighborhood located on this hill. The neighborhood is divided into les pentes (slopes, belonging to the city's 1st arrondissement) and le plateau (atop the hil ...

, near the

montée de la Grande Côte The Montée de la Grande Côte, or the Montée de la Grande-Côte, is a street of La Croix-Rousse quarter, in the 1st arrondissement of Lyon, which connects the Terreaux quarter and the Plateau de la Croix Rousse. It is characterized by a high ele ...

, in the

1st arrondissement of Lyon The 1st arrondissement of Lyon, France is one of the nine arrondissements of the City of Lyon. It is located below the hill of Croix-Rousse and on the north part of the Presqu'île formed by the Saône and the Rhône, the two rivers in Lyon. T ...

. Cardinal Barbarin described the church as "highly symbolic for Lyon Christians".

History

The parish was founded by Cardinal de Bonald in 1855. Then the priest Callot opened a little church on this place on 16 March 1856 as

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...

and his wife had said they will adopt as

godparents In infant baptism and denominations of Christianity, a godparent (also known as a sponsor, or '' gossiprede'') is someone who bears witness to a child's christening and later is willing to help in their catechesis, as well as their lifelon ...

all children born that day. Thus, Callot wrote them a letter asking them to adopt his church. On 29 March 1856, an imperial decree legally recognized the Parish of the Bon Pasteur. In 1869, Emperor Napoleon III came to Lyon to start to build the church. The work, performed by

Clair Tisseur Clair Tisseur (27 January 1827, in Sainte-Foy-lès-Lyon, Rhône – 30 September 1896, in Nyons, Drôme), was a French architect whose best known work is Église du Bon-Pasteur, a prominent Romanesque Revival church in the 1st arrondissement of ...

, began on 25 August 1869, but the war interrupted his work. The current church was built between 1875-1883 by Lyon architect

. The City Council provided 400,000 francs for the construction. However, his plans were not fully respected, because the Father Durant, who presided over the church then, wanted a higher tower. The church was open to the faithful on 15 June 1879 and was completed and consecrated by Archbishop Caverot on 11 June 1883. When the church was constructed,

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

tiles laid flat over a pile of animal bones were discovered.

Architecture

The architecture of the church is an imitation of Poitevin Romanesque style. Eglise innacessible

The church is characterized by its inaccessibility : there is not

parvise A parvis or parvise is the open space in front of and around a cathedral or church, especially when surrounded by either colonnades or porticoes, as at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. It is thus a church-specific type of forecourt, front yard or a ...

, the door leading to the rue Neyret, more than three meters above the ground. The staircase scheduled was never built because it would have required the demolition of the barracks on the other side of the street, what anticlericalism of the 3rd Republic could not tolerate. The stained glasses were made by Bégule and the paintings by Tony Trollet.

Today

In 1984, the church was no longer assigned to the

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

church. It was used as a showroom by the

École nationale des beaux-arts de Lyon École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

established in the vicinity until 2008, and students did not clean the church when they moved. Then the building has been regularly squatted, much degraded and desecrated. Priest Michel Durand, who served in the church, said it needs a deep renovation and wanted the Lyon mayor participated in the works. In 2010, the church was the subject of a dispute between residents and the mayor about the installation of antennas unwanted by local residents, who decided to protest.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eglise Du Bon-Pasteur 1st arrondissement of Lyon Roman Catholic churches in Lyon Churches completed in 1883