The retirement of the man who for a quarter of a century was “l’\u00e9v\u00eaque du Saint Cur\u00e9” (the Bishop of the Holy Cur\u00e9) merits a closer look at this witness, who was both close to us and to Saint J-M Vianney.<\/p>\n
Born in Montceau-les-Mines (71) on April 14, 1937, Guy Bagnard is the son of R. Bagnard, an underground miner, and H. Donet. He entered the Petit S\u00e9minaire de Rimont, then the S\u00e9minaire Universitaire de Lyon. He obtained a DEA in theology from the Institut Catholique de Paris and a DEA in philosophy from the Sorbonne.<\/p>\n
Ordained a priest on June 29, 1965 for the diocese of Autun, he was appointed curate in Gueugnon (no mean feat for a soccer fan!). Professor at the Seminary of Semur-en-Brionnais in 1967-68, he was appointed vicar at Saint-Sulpice parish in Paris. Professor at the Saint-Sulpice seminary in Issy-les-Moulineaux from 1971 to 1974, he became superior of the Paray-le-Monial seminary from 1974 to 1984.<\/p>\n
After some time in Paris and Rome, he was appointed Bishop of Belley on July 16, 1987, succeeding Mgr<\/sup> Ren\u00e9 Dupanloup. He was ordained bishop by Cardinal Decourtray, Archbishop of Lyon, on October 4 in Ars.<\/p>\n In the wake of John Paul II’s pilgrimage to Ars (6\/10\/1986), he obtained from Rome in 1988 that the name of the diocese be changed to “diocese of Belley-Ars”. During his episcopate, he set about revitalizing the Shrine by appointing a rector and additional priests, establishing new communities, encouraging the restoration and construction of buildings, as well as various gatherings…<\/p>\n In October 1988, he also launched a propaedeutic year in Ars, followed by two cycles of a seminary that welcomes seminarians from all over the world to train with the Cur\u00e9 d’Ars.<\/p>\n Driven by the same faith in the priesthood, in 1990 he founded the Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 Jean-Marie Vianney, a fraternity of diocesan priests inspired by the spirituality of the Cur\u00e9 d’Ars.<\/p>\n The Seminary is entrusted to the SJMV to train diocesan priests in the same spirit of self-giving to Christ and the Church, following the example of the Holy Cur\u00e9 and the guidelines of Vatican II. In 1995, the Foyer Sacerdotal Jean-Paul II was inaugurated to welcome pilgrim priests to Ars, offering them a setting and activities conducive to spiritual renewal.<\/p>\n His homilies and teachings – particularly in 2009 and 2010 on the occasion of the Jubilee of the Saint’s death and the Year for Priests decreed by Pope Benedict XVI – have contributed, in his diocese and far beyond, to the universal influence of the Holy Cur\u00e9.<\/p>\n Following in the footsteps of John Paul II and then Benedict XVI, he spared no effort to demonstrate the depth and relevance of the Cur\u00e9 d’Ars, who could become “a companion, a friend, an example, a model, whose simplicity and humility make his closeness desirable and his presence comforting for today’s pastors and for young people who want to respond to the Call”.<\/p>\n A deep sense of priesthood, combined with the grace of Ars, left a singular mark on his episcopate at a time of profound social and ecclesial change: that of a courageous and concrete response to the renewal inspired by the Holy Spirit in the Second Vatican Council.<\/p>\n Article taken from Annales d’Ars n\u00b0 340 [septembre-octobre 2012].<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":3217,"template":"","class_list":["post-6610","grands-temoins-dars","type-grands-temoins-dars","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arsnet.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/grands-temoins-dars\/6610","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arsnet.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/grands-temoins-dars"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arsnet.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/grands-temoins-dars"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arsnet.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3217"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arsnet.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}He renamed the diocese “Belley-Ars”.<\/h3>\n
The influence of the Cur\u00e9 d’Ars<\/h3>\n