Francis Douglas (priest): Difference between revisions
No edit summary |
No edit summary |
||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
'''Vernon Francis Douglas''' (1910-1943) was a priest of of the [[Missionary Society of St Columban]]. Douglas was killed in the Philippines by Japanese soldiers in 1943. Douglas was a Wellingtonian. Within a few months of his ordination, at the end of 1934, he applied to join the Missionary Society of St Columban. He was curate at New Plymouth when he left to join it at the start of 1937, to be appointed to the Philippines in July 1938. Five years later during the Japanese occupation he was taken by secret police looking for information on guerillas who were very active in his area. Over three days he was savagely beaten, the presumption being that police were trying to extort information from him about guerillas whose confessions he may have heard. He remained silent through it all, and was last seen on the evening of 27 July 1943, very weak but still conscious, being put on a truck with a guard of Japanese soldiers. He was not seen again and his grave has never been found. It was only after the liberation of the Philippines from Japanese occupation at the end of 1944 that the Columbans could start to piece his story together. What emerged was a picture of a priest, aged 33, who could be regarded as a martyr, having demonstrated outstanding priestly fidelity. {{sfn|O'Meeghan|2011|p=260}} |
|||
'''Vernon Francis Douglas''' (1910-1943) {{sfn|O'Meeghan|2011|p=260}} |
|||
==Notes== |
==Notes== |
||
Revision as of 05:37, 10 February 2011
Vernon Francis Douglas (1910-1943) was a priest of of the Missionary Society of St Columban. Douglas was killed in the Philippines by Japanese soldiers in 1943. Douglas was a Wellingtonian. Within a few months of his ordination, at the end of 1934, he applied to join the Missionary Society of St Columban. He was curate at New Plymouth when he left to join it at the start of 1937, to be appointed to the Philippines in July 1938. Five years later during the Japanese occupation he was taken by secret police looking for information on guerillas who were very active in his area. Over three days he was savagely beaten, the presumption being that police were trying to extort information from him about guerillas whose confessions he may have heard. He remained silent through it all, and was last seen on the evening of 27 July 1943, very weak but still conscious, being put on a truck with a guard of Japanese soldiers. He was not seen again and his grave has never been found. It was only after the liberation of the Philippines from Japanese occupation at the end of 1944 that the Columbans could start to piece his story together. What emerged was a picture of a priest, aged 33, who could be regarded as a martyr, having demonstrated outstanding priestly fidelity. [1]
Notes
- ^ O'Meeghan 2011, p. 260.
References
- King, Michael (1997). God's Farthest Outpost: A History of Catholics in New Zealand. Auckland: Penguin Books.
{{cite book}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help)