Saint-Nicolas-du-Chardonnet | |
---|---|
![]() Saint-Nicolas-du-Chardonnet: Façade of the church | |
Religion | |
Affiliation | Roman Catholic |
Province | Archdiocese of Paris, since 1977 used by traditionalist Society of St. Pius X |
Region | Île-de-France |
Rite | Tridentine Mass |
Leadership | Patrick de La Rocque (since 2014) |
Status | Active |
Location | |
Location | 23, Rue des Bernardins, 75005 Paris, France |
Geographic coordinates | 48°50′57″N 2°21′01″E / 48.849167°N 2.350278°E |
Architecture | |
Type | Church |
Style | Classical |
Groundbreaking | 1658 |
Completed | 1703 |
Website | |
www |
Saint-Nicolas-du-Chardonnet is a Roman Catholic church in the centre of Paris, France, located in the 5th arrondissement.[1] Since 1977, after expelling the parish priest and his assistants the church has been used by traditionalist Society of St. Pius X and remains in the Society's hands.
A chapel was first built in the 13th century, in a field planted with chardons (thistles), hence the name. It was later replaced with a church. The clocktower is part of an earlier structure, built sometime prior to 1600. The church was reconstructed between 1656 and 1763.[2] In 1612, Adrien Bourdoise founded a seminary at Saint-Nicolas.
In the late 17th century noted harpsichordist Jean-Nicolas Geoffroy (1633–1694) served as titular organist of the church.
In the 19th century the adjacent Mutualité site was occupied by a seminary. There, Ernest Renan studied under the direction of the Abbé Dupanloup, who attained celebrity in 1838 when he reconciled the notoriously amoral diplomat Talleyrand, who had received the minor orders at Saint-Nicholas, to the church on his death-bed. (Dupanloup subsequently became Bishop of Orléans and a member of the Académie française).
The painting, Le Baptême du Christ, is by Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, who also decorated the ceiling.[3]
Since 1905, the city of Paris, following the law on the separation of Church and State, claims ownership of the church but grants the Roman Catholic Church a free usage right.
In 1977, eleven years before the Ecône consecrations, members of the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) led by François Ducaud-Bourget expelled the parish priest and his assistants and occupied the church.[4]
Shortly afterwards, the city of Paris gave an eviction order. In 1978, the Court of Cassation confirmed that the occupation was illegal but the order of eviction was never implemented.[5] On 20 February 1987, the Conseil d'État ruled that the disturbance to public order resulting from an expulsion would be higher than that resulting from the illegal occupation.[6]
In 1993, the SSPX members, led by Philippe Laguérie, unsuccessfully attempted to occupy another church in Paris, St-Germain l'Auxerrois.[7]
On 22 June 2002, the municipal council of Paris passed a resolution that the SSPX should be expelled from the church,[5] against the wishes of the socialist Mayor Bertrand Delanoë.[8]
It is now the SSPX first church in the city of Paris itself, the second being Notre-Dame-de-Consolation Chapel[9] (others exist in the Île de France) and although it is not their official French headquarters[10] it is seen as their de facto national centre.[citation needed]