Monsignor Dilwyn David Lewis

Biography

Monsignor Dilwyn Lewis (28 April 1924 – 10 July 2000) was a British clothes designer turned Roman Catholic priest who oversaw the restoration of the ancient Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome.

Raised in an orphanage in his birth town of Bridgend in Wales, Dilwyn John David Lewis studied for the ministry in the Church of England at Kelham College but instead became a clothing salesman before embarking on a successful career as a freelance clothing designer in London. Cardinal Montini, the future Pope Paul VI, suggested Lewis join the priesthood in 1960, but it was 1974 before Lewis was ordained at Arundel Cathedral. When Lewis received Pope John Paul II on his arrival at Gatwick Airpor...