Catholic University of Lyon

About

The Catholic University of Lyon (UCLy), also known as the Lyon Catholic Institute (French: Institut Catholique de Lyon), is a French private university based in Lyon and Annecy, Southeastern France. UCLy comprises several faculties, schools and institutes, and enrols French and international students in the humanities and social sciences, law, science, management and languages. UCLy has the legal status of a non-profit association under French law. It is an associate member of the "University of Lyon" Community of Universities and Institutions.

The Lyon Catholic University has stood at the confluence of the Saône and Rhône rivers in the city center of Lyon since its founding. Its creation in 1875 was initiated by lay Catholics following passage of a law on the freedom of higher education. Inaugural classes began in 1875.

Its first historic site was the Hôtel de Juys, near Place Bellecour. It housed the faculties of philosophy, arts and languages, science and theology, as well as the rectorate, administration and central services, including international relations, communications, academic administration and human development. Since 2005, the Catholic University of Lyon has been located on two campuses that are close to each other in the city center:

The Carnot Campus houses the Faculty of Theology and Religious Sciences, the Faculty of Philosophy, The Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, the Faculty of Literature and Civilizations including the ESTRI School of Translation and international relations, The Saint-Paul Campus houses the Faculty of Law, Political, European and International Studies, the Faculty of Sciences and Health (including ESTBB), the Faculty of Economics and Management (including Lyon Business School, ESDES) together with the rectorate, the university administration, central university services, the Department of Humanities and the 'Lyon Polytechnic Institute'. In September 2020, UCLy opened a campus in Annecy called “Alpes Europe”. The campus offers UCLy programmes in law, management through ESDES, life sciences through ESTBB, history, and primary-school teacher education.

Since its foundation, Irenaeus of Lyon and Thomas Aquinas have been the patron saints of the Catholic University of Lyon. In a brief dated 30 January 1877, Pope Pius IX granted a plenary indulgence to the university’s donors. One of the conditions was that, after confession and communion, they should visit their parish church on the feast days of St Irenaeus and St Thomas Aquinas and pray there for the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff. The university offers a government-backed diploma in religious freedom and secularism, designed especially for foreign Muslim imams; however, not enough people enroll in it.

12,100 students, including 2,325 from abroad 348 permanent teaching staff 312 administrative staff 7 faculties 5 vocational schools

The organisation and operation of UCLy are governed by canonical statutes approved by the Holy See (December 2013 statutes) and by the civil statutes of the AFPICL association (Association of the Founders and Protectors of the Catholic Institute of Lyon), a non-profit association under the French law of 1901, recognised as being of public utility on 24 July 2000. UCLy is headed by a rector, assisted by a board of directors and other governing bodies. The rector is elected by the general assembly of the Association of the Founders and Protectors of the Catholic Institute of Lyon (AFPICL), which includes UCLy's chancellor, the founding bishops and other directors, following a prior vote by representatives of the University Assembly. Its current rector is Father Grégory Woimbée, who holds doctorates in history and theology. He took office on 1 July 2024, succeeding Father Olivier Artus, who had succeeded Fathers Thierry Magnin and Michel Quesnel.

Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Photography via Wikimedia Commons.