Saint-Nicolas du Chardonnet is a Roman Catholic church in the centre of Paris, France, located in the 5th arrondissement. 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.
History until 1977
A chapel was first built in the 13th century, in a field planted with chardons, 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. In 1612, Adrien Bourdoise founded a seminary at Saint-Nicolas. In the late 17th century noted harpsichordist Jean-Nicolas Geoffroy 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.. The painting, Le Baptême du Christ, is by Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, who also decorated the ceiling. 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.
1977 occupation and consequences
On 27 February 1977, traditionalist priest Monsignor François Ducaud-Bourget, who opposed the post-Vatican II Mass, organised a meeting of his followers at the nearby Maubert Mutalité Lecture Hall. He led the attendees to Saint-Nicolas church, where a service was just concluding. Ducaud-Bourget entered in procession, went to the altar and said Mass in Latin. The parish priest was ejected. The occupation was intended to be just for the length of the mass, but then it continued indefinitely. The parish priest went to court and obtained an order for the expulsion of the occupiers, but the application order was delayed pending mediation, with writer Jean Guitton appointed as mediator. After three months of mediation between the occupants and the Archbishop of Paris, François Marty, Guitton admitted his failure to resolve the issue; the police made no attempt to enforce the expulsion order. The occupiers aligned themselves with the Society of Saint Pius X, and received help from its leader, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre. In 1978, the Court of Cassation confirmed that the occupation was illegal but the order of eviction was never implemented. 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. Ducaud-Bourget died in 1984, and was replaced by Philippe Laguérie. In 1993, the SSPX members, led by Laguérie, unsuccessfully attempted to occupy another church in Paris, St-Germain l'Auxerrois. On 22 June 2002, the municipal council of Paris passed a resolution that the SSPX should be expelled from the church, against the wishes of the socialist Mayor Bertrand Delanoë.
Current situation
It is now the SSPX first church in the city of Paris itself, the second being Notre-Dame-de-Consolation Chapel and although it is not their official French headquarters it is seen as their de facto national centre.
In April 2020, during the Covid-19 pandemic, the congregation of Saint-Nicolas defied the social distancing regulations then in force by holding an Easter Vigil. A livestream on YouTube showed the priest and deacons in close contact, without wearing masks, and Holy Communion was given with bare hands. About 40 people were in attendance. The priest was warned and booked, and given a €135 fine.
