Dilwyn Lewis

Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome

Biography

Raised in an orphanage, Bridgend Cottage Homes, in his birth town of

of the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome.

Working under Cardinal

by John Paul II and put in charge of the administration and restoration of the Basilica, which was in an alarmingly poor state of repair and threatened with financial ruin after years of mismanagement. Lewis raised funds for the repair bill, estimated at more than £9,000,000.

In addition to assisting with restoration, Lewis organised musical performances and special events at the Basilica and coordinated collaborations with the Church of England, including arranging for the loan of St. Thomas Becket's yellow silk dalmatic to the Canterbury Cathedral and for the celebration in the Basilica of the Eucharist by Anglican priests.

Dilwyn Lewis was buried in the crypt of Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore following his death in Ireland in 2000.^[1]

Commemoration

In July 2022 a blue plaque was unveiled in his honour at St. Marys Bridgend, where he had donated many hundreds of pounds and the Allen organ, and remembered via an engraving of his coat of arms on one of the windows in the Narthex. The citing of the Blue Plaque on St Mary's will mean many more people will be able to view his window and see our church as part of Monsignor Dilwyn's legacy to Bridgend and the church he served.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b "14th Sunday of Ordinary Time. Catholic Parishes of St Mary's, Bridgend, Our Lady Star of the Sea, Porthcawl & St Joseph's of Arimathea, Kenfig Hill" (PDF). Retrieved 2022-07-13.

External links

[:0-1] "14th Sunday of Ordinary Time. Catholic Parishes of St Mary's, Bridgend, Our Lady Star of the Sea, Porthcawl & St Joseph's of Arimathea, Kenfig Hill" (PDF). Retrieved 2022-07-13.

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