Perlen
St. Joseph
Building data
Denomination | Roman Catholic
Building type | Church
Year of construction | 1937 – 1938
Architect | Theiler, Hans
Town, canton | Perlen, LU
Street address | Dorfstrasse 2
GPS | 47.11025, 8.36108
Google Maps | Swisstopo
Reuse
Year of reuse | 2016
Ownership | Unchanged
Building interventions | Unchanged
Form of use | Shared use
Type of use | Church
Brief information | Sale to the Serbian Orthodox parish planned since 2016 but delayed until now due to opposition. Since then, the building has been leased to the Serbian Orthodox parish.
Further information | see below
Status of information
Entry created | 2017/08
Entry last updated | 2024/02
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Further information
The Saint-Joseph Centre in Perlen is one of three Catholic churches in the municipality of Buchrain. Built in 1938, this centre comprises, in addition to the church, a vicarage and a connecting wing housing a parish hall. It is listed as a historic monument at cantonal level. Given that the Sainte-Agathe parish centre and the former village church are sufficient to meet the parish’s current needs, the parish council considered selling Saint-Joseph. The Diocese of Basel gave its approval to this project, on condition that the church be transferred to a Christian religious community. Contact was made with the Serbian Orthodox parish in Lucerne, which was already using the village church in Buchrain for its services. The diocese favoured a leasehold arrangement, but the Serbian Orthodox parish wished to purchase it to secure a long-term home for its community. On 24 January 2016, the Buchrain parish voted, with 58.8 per cent in favour and a turnout of 44.3 per cent, to sell the church for 1.2 million francs. The agreement also stipulated that Catholics could continue to use the church for major religious services and for prayer.
Due to two private appeals, the sale of the could not be finalised until 2018. The lack of a licence to use the premises also prevented the sale. As a temporary solution, the church has since been leased to the Serbian Orthodox parish for an annual rent of 30,000 francs. Following the granting of the necessary authorisation, a tenancy agreement was signed in January 2020, authorising the Serbian Orthodox parish to hold services there until the end of 2021. Should the sale, which is still being considered, go ahead later, part of the rent will be deducted from the purchase price.