Chapelle du Bon Pasteur

Was this unassuming church always so quiet? The Chapelle du Bon Pasteur stands before you a testament to Parisian resilience. It’s nestled in the 11th arrondissement a district forever marked by the tragic end of the 1871 Commune. After 71 days of upheaval the Parisian Commune ended in bloodshed. The Versaillais repression under Thiers left thousands dead. The 11th arrondissement saw brutal street fighting. The last barricades fell one by one. The final fighters were pursued into Père Lachaise Cemetery. Prisoners were executed at the Mur des Fédérés. Some escaped emigrating abroad. Ships carried exiled Communards to Algeria and New Caledonia. The Faubourg Saint-Antoine and surrounding areas were depopulated. There weren’t enough woodworkers to continue the furniture making that had made the area famous. So they called upon European workers. Many Flemish Belgians arrived with their families. Catholic they brought priests with them. These priests acquired land on Rue de Charonne. There between Avenue Philippe-Auguste and Boulevard de Charonne in 1873 a Neo-Gothic Flemish brick church was built. It was designed by Belgian architects Arthur Verhaegen and Jean-Baptiste Bethune. The church had rich furnishings designed by Bethune. Bronze and copper elements came from the St Eloi copper works in Roubaix which had a branch in Paris. The altar was topped by a large Neo-Gothic ciborium and surrounded by a curtain. For the locals it was the ‘church of the Flemings’. It was the heart of the Flemish mission organizing religious and social activities for Flemish workers. After the 1905 separation of church and state all churches became the property of the city of Paris. The church of the Flemings which would later be renamed Chapelle du Bon Pasteur remained the property of the Bishop of Ghent. Years later the Belgian clergy handed it over to the Archdiocese of Paris. It was entrusted to the Sons of Charity in 1926. They ran an extensive evangelical and social program until 1966. During a harsh winter Abbé Pierre appealed for help for the homeless. The church of the Bon Pasteur housed some of them. A committee to aid the homeless was founded. It was the first in Paris and would become the basis for the General Confederation of Housing. By the 1960s the building was deteriorating. The Sons of Charity proposed renovations. They left and a new team of priests was appointed. One Sunday morning stones fell from the vault luckily without injuring anyone. It became clear that major renovations were needed. Repair proved impossible. Reconstruction would have cost too much. So in 1968 a team of clergy laity and residents worked with the Archdiocese of Paris to redevelop the site. This included 126 social housing units cultural and social spaces and a new 600-seat church. The architect Bernard Casnin designed the new complex. The new Chapelle du Bon Pasteur is reached via a forecourt below Rue de Charonne. A monumental door and service doors lead to an entrance hall. The hall leads to meeting rooms a press corner and a small weekday chapel. The church’s large interior is innovative and technically daring. The ceiling height starts at 2.25 meters then increases to five meters in the nave. The high curved floor is a reinforced concrete wall between the side walls. The gently sloping floor ensures good visibility. Natural light filters in through windows in the floor and its ends. The back wall has a facing of bricks and sandstone panels. This forms a sober but lively decor in the light. On a Sunday morning in 1972 the new Chapelle du Bon Pasteur was inaugurated. The old church had been demolished. Friends sympathizers and observers crowded in. Almost 1200 people celebrated together. Today the neighborhood is quite different. People from around the world participate in parish life. The Chapelle du Bon Pasteur remains a symbol of faith adaptation and the enduring spirit of Paris.