Wales: POW church custodian has died

A man who spent 40 years caring for a Catholic chapel built by Italian prisoners of war in Wales, during WWI has died. Bob Thomson, who looked after the Church of the Sacred Heart in Henllan, near Llandysul, Ceredigion was 86. More than 1,000 Italian prisoners were kept in the village during World War II. One of them, Mario Ferlito had the idea of building the church out of scrap materials, corn beef tins and jars. Many men helped with the building. Mr Ferlito painted a mural of Christ's Last Supper on the ceiling of the hut above the altar using dyes from fuit juice and tea. For many years after the war ex-PoW's made an annual pilgrimage to Henllan where they celebrated Mass and visited former comrades who had settled in the area. The church is still used for occasional services. Last year, efforts began to secure its future when Mr Thomson announced that he wanted he wanted to retire. Read also: www.indcatholicnews.com/chapew274.html