In July 1943 a Wellington – born Columban priest disappeared from Pililla, his lakeside parish 60 kilometers from Manila. The mystery of his disappearance and presumed death has never been explained and his body never found. Patricia Brooks wrote of his life and what was known of his arrest by the Japanese military police. That story was reprinted in MISYON and read by Sr Margherita in Rome, who at about the same time, read an article in an American Magazine published for expatriate Filipinos from the town of Paete. The author of this article was Marie Pruden. It didn’t take long for connections to be made.

The article by Marie Pruden in the Paete Journal asked the identity of the strange European priest who once saved the lives of some villagers. “This white priest may be more than a hero, he could be a saint! If he indeed was martyred, then the town owes him a memorial.”

Sr Margherita realized the “strange European priest” was the same person mentioned in Misyon and suddenly remembered as a child seeing Fr Douglas.

“His appearance is very vivid in my mind; like Jesus tied to a pillar and scourged with blue marks around his body and arms. I didn’t know he was a priest, just ‘Americano’ because he was white.”

Then a correspondent wrote into the Paete paper: “I can still see the white priest now. I heard the whacks and whips fall upon his bare body. The blows of heartless men upon a hapless fellow human being still pierce my ears. The white priest, true to his calling, came, was tortured and was put to death. If martyrdom of that kind is not sainthood, what is?”

Luding Afurong-Llave was 18 years old when he heard “the moans and screams of people being tortured ... when the door opened we saw a big white man, the priest, with a rosary and a scapular around his neck. His hands were tied to the pillar supporting the choir loft. His face was swollen with black eyes and he had bruises all over his body. He was sent as a savior to our townsmen as the soldiers’ anger was vented on this white foreigner. Just as Jesus suffered for our salvation, they stripped him of his clothes, beat him and lashed him into unconsciousness.”

Sr Margherita sent copies of the articles to New Zealand and Patricia Brooks, the original author, received a reply from Marie Pruden in San Francisco, who wrote: “We now have a face and name to what I thought had been a myth. Thanks to you, we finally learned his identity.”

Marie was able to tell Patricia that her godfather, retired colonel Frank Quesada, had been in the church when Fr Douglas was tortured and would be able to give a clear first-hand account of what happened.

Patricia flew to San Francisco where Quesada told her he had been in the resistance movement during the war and was arrested with 2,500 men and boys who were imprisoned and tortured for information in Pililla.

After three days of cruel interrogations, the Japanese military police brought Fr Douglas into the church and directed their anger at him, giving the others respite.

Frank Quesada confirmed the earlier anonymous reports of the heroic courage of Fr Douglas throughout the further three days of torture. He gave graphic descriptions of the ill-treatment and torture suffered by Fr Douglas, and told of his strength and inspiration.

Frank went to confession to Fr Douglas, who led the prisoners in prayer, saying the Rosary in Tagalog, "in spite of his wounds and pain, he never complained or showed any signs of being demoralized. He gave us faith and resolve to live. He told us: 'Do not be afraid, we are in the house of the God.'

“To us he was a saint sent by God to absorb pain and sacrifice for us. Nobody knew from where he came yet he shared our punishment and pain.”

Patricia met other Filipino people from Paete to whom the story of Fr Douglas is now more than a myth and they pray that one day he will be beatified.

Patricia Brooks has written a biography of Fr Douglas which she hopes to get published soon and she would love to see a documentary made of Frank telling what happened to Fr Douglas in Paete.

“Francis Vernon Douglas is part of our faith history and we need to record for posterity this credible witness who can give us a first-hand account of the last hours of Fr Douglas.”

Patricia Brooks can be contacted at 113 Waipapa Road, Hataitai, Wellington 3, New Zealand.