The Église du Bon-Pasteur () is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

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'' ( ...

, 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 ...

, in the

1st arrondissement of Lyon The 1st arrondissement of Lyon () 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. Thi ...

. 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 President of France from 1848 to 1852 and then Emperor of the French from 1852 until his deposition in 1870. He was the first president, second emperor, and last ...

and his wife had said they will adopt as

godparents Within Christianity, a godparent or sponsor is someone who bears witness to a child's baptism (christening) and later is willing to help in their catechesis, as well as their lifelong spiritual formation. In both religious and civil views, ...

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, began on 25 August 1869, but the war interrupted his work. The current church was built between 1875-1883 by Lyon architect Clair Tisseur. 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 Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

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 ...

, 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 Barracks are buildings used to accommodate military personnel and quasi-military personnel such as police. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word 'soldier's tent', but today barracks ar ...

on the other side of the street, what anticlericalism of the 3rd Republic could not tolerate. The

stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

es 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 List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

church. It was used as a showroom by the

École nationale des beaux-arts de Lyon École or Ecole 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 * Éco ...

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