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.

History

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. Since 2005, the Catholic University of Lyon has been located on two campuses that are close to each other in the city center: UCLy is now situated on three campuses, two within the heart of the city of Lyon (Carnot / Saint Paul) and the other, in Annecy, which opened at the start of the 2020 academic year. UCLy is a non-profit-making organisation granted the status of a public interest private higher education institution (EESPIG) by the French government, and as such, it contributes to providing the public service of higher education. The rector since September 2019 is the theologian Olivier Artus. 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.

Facts and Figures

Three types of courses

University Library

The library belongs to the SUDOC network ('Service Universitaire de Documentation') which interconnects with some 3,000 libraries elsewhere in France.