A transformation : from chapel to church

For the umpteenth time on our way to the church in Saint -Maurice-de-Satonnay in order to see a wall painting in the (non-Romanesque) Sant-Denis we passed through the hamlet of Satonnay. There seems to be a curse on this particular visit, because every time we go there we find that church shut.

Notre Dame in Satonnay

But anyway, Satonnay itself has a small Romanesque church, although according to various websites the church is private property and not open to the public. Le site sur l'Art Roman en Bourgogne says that it is not a church, but a chapel. Since I had only one picture of this chapel, we decided to stop and snoop around a bit. The gate that gave access to the space around the church was locked, so having a look inside was impossible. However, on the side of the church there was a notice giving some information. From the information some conclusions could be drawn:

Firstly, this was the church of Satonnay, not a chapel. The church was built in the 10th century, and had been regularly altered over the centuries. It was originally dedicated to Saint-Victor, then to Saint-Maurice. Between 1978 and 1999 there had been regular appearances of the virgin Mary, reason why the church had been re-christened as " Notre Dame de Satonnay, Queen of the Poor".

De "bijsluiter" van de kerk in Satonnay

Secondly, and what I found most interesting, was that the church was no longer under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Autun. The church was run by clergy following the traditions from before the second Vatican Council. It follows the Latin liturgy according to Saint-Pie-V (Pope Pius V, 1504-1572).

Paraphrasing the title of one of John Grisham's novels, one could classify this church as a run-away church.
And I had been convinced for a long time that only the Protestants were divided amongst themselves....

Practical information (courtesy of Eduard van Boxtel) :
Church Notre-Dame (first Saint-Victor, then Saint-Maurice) in Satonnay (Saint-Maurice-de-Satonnay), 10th century, 0*

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