Father Francis Vernon Douglas was born in Wellington. After leaving school he worked for a year in the post office. Then he went to Mosgiel where he went and studied priesthood. He went to St Joseph parish in New Plymouth. He spent a lot of time there with young people.
In 1937 he joined the Columbian Fathers because he was interested to becoming a missionary. Then he went the Philippines and arrived in his new parish of Pililla in July. He taught people in his beliefs. He taught heaps of young people and said "They are the future of the church". He organised to repair the the demolished Church.
Late in 1941 the Japanese army came in to Philippines and the country became involved in World War 2. He had a chance to leave but he decided to stay and help.
He got taken away from Japanese soldiers to be interrogated because they thought he was a spy against them. He was arrested by soldiers. They beat him up and tied him to the church pillar and left him for 3 days. He was also given the water torture, which meant he got a large funnel in his mouth, which the soldiers poured water down to make him bloated.
Fr Douglas was last seen been dragged away, into a military truck surrounded by soldiers with fixed bayonets. When the truck returned Fr Francis was missing. His body was never found, but it is believed that he was put to death on 10th of July 1943. He was 33.
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Dear Molly,
ReplyDeleteFr. Douglas was taken to Paete church on July 24, 1943, the vigil of the feast of its patron saint, St. James the Great [the first apostle martyred for Christ.]
Father Douglas was beaten and tortured for three days and nights without sleep, food or water. A Filipino priest, Fr. Nicomedes Rosal [himself under house arrest], was brought to Fr. Douglas to hear his confession during that time. Then on July 27, Fr. Douglas was taken away and was never seen again.
My point is, Fr. Douglas couldn't have been killed on July 10, since he was still alive on July 24, the day he arrived in Paete.
You might also be interested to know that the marble baptismal font where Fr. Douglas had been tied to and beaten up has been transported to his church in NZ, as it is actually a relic of his passion; in exchange for which, NZ sent Paete a large ornate sanctuary lamp made of bronze, that still lights the Blessed Sacrament on the altar day and night.
Thank you for the heartrending story of Fr. Douglas. God bless you, Molly.