Jean-François Vuarin

Jean-François Vuarin (born June 10, 1769 in Collonges-sous-Salève , † September 6, 1843 in Geneva ) was a Roman Catholic clergyman.

Life

Jean-François Vuarin was the son of the retailer Jacques Vuarin and his wife Antoinette, b. Compagnon. He attended the seminary in Annecy and studied theology at the Sorbonne Université in Paris . In 1792 he was ordained a priest and he became a missionary in Geneva. In 1802 he contributed to the reorganization of the local Catholic parish. He became episcopal secretary in Chambéry and was pastor in Geneva from 1806 to 1843, during which time he was appointed official in 1817 and vicar general in 1818 without an official nomination.

Act

Jean-François Vuarin wanted to help Catholicism regain an important place in the reformed stronghold of Geneva, and he was very active diplomatically and politically and wrote various treatises . From 1813 to 1816 he influenced the negotiations for the integration of the Catholic population of the Sardinian Kingdom and the Pays de Gex in the (future) canton of Geneva . With the help of his wide network of contacts, he fought against the annexation of Geneva to a Swiss diocese and for the restoration of an independent diocese, as it had already existed in the past. He worried about the rights of Catholics and tried to extend them to the fields of cemeteries, congregations and the school system. His writings bear witness to a war of attrition with the Geneva government.

The Concordat of July 15, 1801, which restored peace between the Church and the French state, enabled the establishment of the Suffragan Diocese of Chambéry and Geneva ( Bull of November 29, 1801), which was under the Archdiocese of Lyon ; the title of Bishop of Geneva was conferred on the Bishop of Chambéry; however, passed to the Bishop of Lausanne as early as 1815. In 1803 a priest in the church of Saint-Germain read a mass in Geneva for the first time - the last such mass was celebrated in 1679 in the chapel of the French resident. The diocese of Geneva was transformed into the Archdiocese of Chambéry following the Concordat of 1817 between the Pope and the King of Sardinia, who had returned to the possession of Savoy . In 1819 Pope Pius VII separated the Catholic parishes of the canton of Geneva from the Archbishopric of Chambéry and incorporated them into the Diocese of Lausanne, despite the opposition of the Archbishop and especially Jean-François Vuarin. In 1821, at the request of the Geneva government, the Pope withdrew the title of Bishop of Geneva from the Archbishop of Chambéry and transferred it to the Bishop of Lausanne, who had his seat in Friborg . The French parts of the diocese were combined in the newly established Diocese of Annecy in 1822 .

When Jean-François Vuarin took over his pastoral office in 1806 there were around 500 Catholics in Geneva, when he died there were around 10,000 Catholics, there was a church, several charities, including an orphanage, a school for 300 girls and one for 300 boys and a hospital; 30,000 Catholics and Protestants attended his funeral.

Fonts (selection)

• Bénédiction Solennelle du nouveau cimetière catholique de la ville de Genève on May 21, 1822 . Genève: Guers Père, 1822.
• Considérations sur la Confrérie en l'honneur du Très-Saint Sacrement: établie dans la paroisse catholique de Genève, le jour de la Fête-Dieu de l'année 1823 . Genève: PA Bonnant, 1823.
• Réflexions sur la lettre de Monsieur Jean François Vuarin, curé de Genève, adressée à Monsieur le premier Syndic au sujet de l'inhumation d'un détenu mort à la prison pénitentiaire . Genève Lador, 1829.
• Dialogues sur le jubilé annoncé parles ministres de Genève, entre un élève catholique, Du collége de Carouge, et un élève protestant Du collége de Genève . Geneva 1835.
• Lettre à M. le Professeur Auguste de la Rive, écrite par son précepteur officieux, en réponse à celle qu'il a addressee à M. Gaspard Greffier, curé de Carouge, sous date du 15 Août 1835 . Geneva 1835.
• L'ombre de Rousseau, en response to l'ombre de Calvin . Geneva 1835.
• La tolérance de Genève prouvée par les faits: supplément à la lettre de M. Nachon, ancien curé de Divonne, sur le même sujet . Genève: Chez les principaux libraires, 1835.
• Question à résoudre par tous les amis de l'ordre légal: Pourquoi les habitans des paroisses de Lancy et de Thônex sont-ils mis dans un cas d'exception, en-dehors de l'ordre légal, pour le traitement de leurs curés? Geneva 1836.
• Au vénérable clergé de l'ancien diocèse de Genève, Messieurs, le voeu de Monseigneur Bigex, décédé archevêque de Chambéry, avait toujours été de laisser un monument historique sur la persécution exercée contre la religion, à la fin du siècle dernier . Genève Pelletier 1837.

Web links

• Irène Herrmann / BE: Vuarin, Jean-François. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Catherine Santschi: Geneva (diocese, principality). In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . July 11, 2007 , accessed April 22, 2019 .
2. ↑ The Pilgrim: a Sunday paper for teaching the religious mind . No. 40 of October 1, 1843. Benziger, 1843, p. 160 ( limited preview in Google Book Search).