Saint-Étienne Cathedral (french: Cathédrale Saint-Charles-de-Borromé de Saint-Étienne) 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 lette ...

church dedicated to

Saint Charles Borromeo Charles Borromeo ( it, Carlo Borromeo; la, Carolus Borromeus; 2 October 1538 – 3 November 1584) was the Archbishop of Milan from 1564 to 1584 and a cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was a leading figure of the Counter-Reformation combat a ...

, in

Saint-Étienne Saint-Étienne (; frp, Sant-Etiève; oc, Sant Estève, ) is a city and the prefecture of the Loire department in eastern-central France, in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. Saint-Étienne is the t ...

Loire The Loire (, also ; ; oc, Léger, ; la, Liger) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it drains , more than a fifth of France's land, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhône ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. It has been the

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...

of the Diocese of Saint-Étienne since its creation on 26 December 1970. The building was constructed as an elaborate

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

between 1912 and 1923 in a primitive

neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

style, on a

Latin cross A Latin cross or ''crux immissa'' is a type of cross in which the vertical beam sticks above the crossbeam, with the three upper arms either equally long or with the vertical topmost arm shorter than the two horizontal arms, and always with a mu ...

groundplan with transept and triple nave, and a belltower on the west front. The building is long, wide and from the centre of the roof vault to the ground. The organ in the choir dates from 1930, and there is another very imposing one by A. Durand from 1968. The building was a highly ambitious one from the start, and remains unfinished.

History

The project of a large church for a new parish was decided upon in 1830 to serve the rising population of the city consequent upon its industrial growth. The dedication to Charles Borromeo was an indirect compliment to the then monarch,

Charles X Charles X (born Charles Philippe, Count of Artois; 9 October 1757 – 6 November 1836) was King of France from 16 September 1824 until 2 August 1830. An uncle of the uncrowned Louis XVII and younger brother to reigning kings Louis XVI and Loui ...

. Forez-info.com: Histoire de la Cathédrale Saint-Charles
A provisional chapel was built in the Rue Émile Combes in 1829, although only dedicated in 1840, as a temporary measure while the new large church was constructed. In the event the provisional structure had to serve until 1923. The extreme delay was due to sustained obstruction from the secularist authorities, which had disastrous consequences for the progress of the new church of Saint-Étienne. Plans for an impressive church were accepted in the 1860s, drawn up by

Pierre Bossan Pierre-Marie Bossan (23 July 1814, in Lyon – 23 July 1888, in La Ciotat) was a French historicist architect, a pupil of Henri Labrouste, specialising in ecclesiastical architecture. Life and work In 1844 he was appointed architect to the di ...

, architect to the

Archdiocese of Lyon The Archdiocese of Lyon (Latin: ''Archidiœcesis Lugdunensis''; French: ''Archidiocèse de Lyon''), formerly the Archdiocese of Lyon–Vienne–Embrun, is a Latin Church metropolitan archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France. The Archbishops ...

, where his most significant work was the

Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière The Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière (french: Basilique Notre-Dame de Fourvière) is a minor basilica in Lyon, France. It was built with private funds between 1872 and 1896 in a dominant position overlooking the city. The site it occupies was ...

. After many years in storage they were destroyed in a fire, and had to be reconstructed by , from preliminary drawings by Bossan's partner, Giniez, which had been kept by his children. The local architect who finally built the church from them was Francisque Dodat. The first stone was blessed on 3 November 1912 by Monsignor Déchelette, Auxiliary Bishop of Lyons. However, two years later, the start of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

further delayed construction until 1919. By that time inflation had reduced the value of the endowment and there was a shortage of labour, and the church that was eventually built, which was finished on 20 November 1923 but not consecrated until 23 May 1933 by Cardinal Maurin,

Archbishop of Lyons The Archdiocese of Lyon (Latin: ''Archidiœcesis Lugdunensis''; French: ''Archidiocèse de Lyon''), formerly the Archdiocese of Lyon–Vienne–Embrun, is a Latin Church metropolitan archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France. The Archbishops ...

, was significantly less than what had been planned: it is missing three of the intended four belltowers and a dome, as well as quantities of external and internal decorations. In 1970, the church was elevated to a cathedral when the Diocese of Saint-Étienne was created. On this occasion, the

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...

was remodelled to conform to the liturgical prescriptions of the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st Catholic ecumenical councils, ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions) ...

. In 2005, at the instigation of the Abbé Martin, rector, the layout was completed by the creation of an episcopal cathedral coherent with the altar and the ambo, on drawings by the architect Michel Goyet. Built after the

1905 French law on the Separation of the Churches and the State The 1905 French law on the Separation of the Churches and State ( French: ) was passed by the Chamber of Deputies on 9 December 1905. Enacted during the Third Republic, it established state secularism in France. France was then governed by the '' ...

, it is one of the few cathedrals in France owned by the diocese, which is wholly responsible for its upkeep.

Notes

References

Catholic Hierarchy: Diocese of Saint-Étienne

Diocese of Saint-Étienne official website

''Saint-Étienne Cathedral''
a
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint-Etienne Cathedral Roman Catholic cathedrals in France Buildings and structures in Saint-Étienne Churches in Loire (department)