Any visitor to the market town of Dolgellau in North Wales cannot fail to notice the church dedicated to Our Lady of Seven Sorrows. It was built in Norman style between 1963 and 1968 by Fr Francis Scalpell, a Maltese priest who from 1928 up to 1970 dedicated himself to the pastoral needs of the few Catholics in the area.
His name in the town is legendary and stories are told about him even now, over 45 years after his death. When Fr Francis arrived in Dollgellau he celebrated Mass in an old, dilapidated stable with big holes in the roof and lived in an old stable, from where he would gaze at the stars at night. To even dream of having a proper building to serve as a parish church seemed impractical, considering that the total Sunday collection amounted to between five and eight shillings a week.
But Fr Francis, who in his childhood years in Valletta dreamt of one day building his own church, was a man of great faith. He embarked on a project to realise his childhood ambition by personally writing 25,000 letters asking for funds and he sent the letters to people in every part of the world. A young priest, Fr Charles Vella, sent some money he collected from Malta.
At a time when Fr Francis announced to his parishioners that he was still short of a five-figure sum, an anonymous donor gave him all the money he needed on the condition that his name remains unknown and that the church will be built in harmony with the austere, mountainous surroundings.
The church was consecrated in 1967. Fr Francis spent the last three years of his life enriching the holy edifice he built. Today the church is having a new electrical system installed as the present one has been condemned as dangerous. I promised the present parish priest to ask for donations, which will be acknowledged, however small.
Anyone wishing to help can send a donation to Fr John Bosco, AJ, Meyrick Street, Dolgellau, LL40 1LR, UK. You can learn more about Fr Francis Scalpell and see pictures of the church he built at sites.google.com/site/francisscalpell by Ray Cutajar.