St. Margaret of Scotland Church, located in Maggie Valley, was built by Father Michael William Murphy before he became a priest. In 1972, he was ordained at the church by Raleigh Bishop Vincent Waters, only a few months after the Diocese of Charlotte was founded. Father Murphy was 80 years old when he was ordained – likely the oldest man to be ordained in the United States at the time, and probably the first time in the United States that a man was ordained to the priesthood in a church that he himself had built. (File | Catholic News Herald) MAGGIE VALLEY — As part of the Diocese of Charlotte’s 50th anniversary celebrations, members of St. Margaret of Scotland Parish recently gathered with their pastor, the Rev. Dr. W. Becket Soule, O.P., to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the ordination of the first priest ordained in the diocese: Father Michael William Murphy.
Father Murphy helped found and build the church in Maggie Valley in the late 1960s, and his ordination to the priesthood at the church on Ascension Day – May 11, 1972 – was historic.
As the bishops and abbots present noted in their remarks at the time, Father Murphy was 80 years old when he was ordained – likely the oldest man to be ordained in the United States at the time, and probably the first time in the United States that a man was ordained to the priesthood in a church that he himself had built.
To commemorate this milestone, parishioners gathered on a warm spring evening May 11 to celebrate the anniversary, hear about the parish’s early history, and share stories to rekindle the vision of Father Murphy.
Murphy grew up on a berry farm near Detroit, rose to become a wealthy businessman, and came to North Carolina in 1950. He was a builder – concentrating his efforts on churches and structures that gave glory to God. Throughout the next decade, the “Apostle of the Smokies” traveled about the mountain towns of Murphy, Sylva and Cullowhee, financing and leading construction of St. William Church, St. Mary, Mother of God Church and the Catholic Center on the campus of Western Carolina University.
Murphy bought 33 acres in Maggie Valley and converted a building on the site into a chapel that he furnished with religious items from his mother, the late Margaret Murphy.
He later received permission to build a church on the site from Bishop Vincent Waters of the Diocese of Raleigh, which encompassed all of North Carolina until the Charlotte diocese was founded in 1972.
St. Margaret of Scotland Church was consecrated on July 14, 1968, by Archbishop Luigi Raimondi, the Vatican’s apostolic delegate, assisted by Bishop Waters, Bishop Ernest Unterkoefler of Charleston, S.C., and Bishop John May (at the time auxiliary bishop of Chicago, but who became archbishop of Mobile later that year, and eventually archbishop of St. Louis).
Pictured is a painting of Father Murphy that hangs at the church, and his grave marker.During the consecration of the church, Murphy was also made a Knight of the Order of St. Gregory the Great, a papal order of knighthood that recognizes extraordinary lay service to the Church on the recommendation of a diocesan bishop with the support of the apostolic delegate or papal nuncio.
Archbishop Raimondi said he hoped that the church would become “a mission center for the western part of the state.”
St. Margaret of Scotland Church remains a reflection of Murphy’s love for his mother, his love of the Catholic faith and his devotion to the Eucharist.
It was built large enough to seat 200 people, although there were only a handful of Catholics in Maggie Valley then. “I didn’t build this because of the demand,” Murphy said at the time. “I built it for the future – strong so it will last for ages. Someday, it will be full every Sunday.”
Now, the parish boasts more than 130 registered families.
As Bishop Waters oversaw Murphy’s various church building projects, he frequently urged the zealous layman to consider becoming a priest. Murphy had long wished to be a priest, since he was 3, but he later admitted he resisted God’s calling because he “was only a poor sinner and did not have much education.”
After prayerful discernment and support from Bishop Waters, Murphy studied at St. Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology in Indiana and on May 11, 1972, was ordained by Bishop Waters at the church in Maggie Valley. The unusual ordination – of an 80-year-old priest in a small mountain church he had built himself – drew media coverage from all over the world.
After serving for a year at a parish along the North Carolina coast, Father Murphy returned to his beloved church in Maggie Valley, where he ministered until his retirement in 1984.
Father Murphy died on April 25, 1990, aged 98 in the rectory he had also built, but his legacy lives on in St. Margaret of Scotland Church, which remains an active and vibrant parish nestled amid the western North Carolina mountains.
— Catholic News Herald
More online
At www.stmargaretofscotlandmv.org/parish-history: Read more about Father Michael William Murphy’s work to establish a Catholic church in Maggie Valley, and his journey from lay missionary to founder and pastor of the church he built
