Michel Guyard

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Michel Guyard
Bishop of Le Havre
Installed9 July 2003
Term ended24 June 2011
PredecessorMichel Saudreau [fr]
SuccessorJean-Luc Brunin [fr]
Orders
Ordination25 June 1965
Consecration12 October 2003
by Jean-Marie Lustiger
Personal details
Born
Michel Guyard

19 June 1936
Died23 July 2021(2021-07-23) (aged 85)
Vannes, France
BuriedLe Havre Cathedral
NationalityFrench
DenominationCatholic Church
EducationSaint-Sulpice Seminary
Coat of arms's coat of arms

Michel Guyard (19 June 1936 – 23 July 2021) was a French Catholic bishop.[1] He served as Bishop of Le Havre from 2003 to 2011.[2]

Biography[edit]

Formation[edit]

Guyard studied to be a priest at the Saint-Sulpice Seminary in Issy-les-Moulineaux. He was ordained on 25 June 1965 in the Archdiocese of Paris.

Principal ministries[edit]

Guyard began his life as a priest in several small Parisian parishes, such as the Church of St Odile [fr] and Saint-François-de-Sales Church [fr]. From 1970 to 1984, he was spiritual director of the Carmelite seminary at the Institut Catholique de Paris before being appointed to serve as a priest at the Église Saint-Jean-Baptiste de Grenelle [fr] before serving as archpriest at the Cathedral of Notre-Dame-de-Paris. He was then vicar general of the Diocese of Paris from 1994 to 2003.

On 9 July 2003, Guyard was nominated to replace Monsignor Michel Saudreau [fr] as Bishop of Le Havre. He was consecrated on 12 October 2003 by Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger. Within the Bishops' Conference of France, he served on the Committee of Health and subsequently became a member of the Council for Family and Social Questions. He retired on 24 June 2011 due to old age.

Death[edit]

Michel Guyard died in Vannes on 23 July 2021 at the age of 85.[3] He will be buried on 2 August at Le Havre Cathedral.

Public positions[edit]

In 2006, a telethon was held raising money for medical research using human embryos. Guyard publicly stated that, while he was in favor of medical research, he was opposed to its use of human embryos.[4]

In 2008, Guyard and Monsignor Jean-Charles Descubes [fr] authored a document titled "Le dimanche au risque de la vie actuelle". The text pleaded for Sunday to not become a day just like any other and underlined the importance of the day to break the rhythm of the week, allowing a time for relaxation. Therefore, great opposition was expressed to the opening of shops on Sundays.[5]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Madelaine, Louis (25 July 2021). "Normandie. Mgr Michel Guyard était l'évêque du Havre". Ouest-France (in French). Lisieux. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  2. ^ "Bishop Michel Jean Guyard †". catholic-hierarchy.org.
  3. ^ "Mgr Michel Guyard, deuxième évêque du Havre, est décédé vendredi 23 juillet 2021". Paris-Normandie (in French). Le Havre. 24 July 2021. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  4. ^ "Paroles d'évêques à propos du Téléthon". Roman Catholic Diocese of Fréjus-Toulon (in French). 18 December 2006. Archived from the original on 19 November 2019. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  5. ^ "La place du dimanche dans la vie de l'homme" (PDF). Conférence des Évêques de France (in French). 28 February 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2016.