By Fr Pat O’Shea

Fr Francis Vernon Douglas

The 70th anniversary of the death of ColumbanFr Francis Vernon Douglas, a New Zealander, was observed on 27 July this year. He was last seen alive in Paete, Rizal, Philippines, on that date in 1943 when Japanese soldiers took him away in a truck after days of torturing him. Fr Pat O’Shea, an Irish Columban who worked in Mindanao in the 1970s, writes here about an event in the Archdiocese of Wellington, for which Fr Douglas was ordained before becoming a Columban, to mark the anniversary

Coat-of-arms of Francis Douglas Memorial College

It is 70 years since the missionary life of Fr Francis Vernon Douglas ended in death after a period of interrogation and torture by the Japanese forces that at that time occupied the Philippines and his parish of Pililla. We gathered to remember and honor him. We also wanted to take time to reflect together on faith and mission.

The ceremony took the form of hymns, prayers and reflections beginning with a welcome (karanga) by Elizabeth Woodhouse and song (waiata – the Maori word for ‘song’) lead by her husband, Russell. The emcee for the event was Fr Brian Vale, himself an alumnus of Francis Douglas Memorial College and whose father, Jim Vale, was coached in rugby and cricket by Francis Douglas.

Fr Michael Gormly retold the story of Father Frank with a focus on his growing up in Johnsonville, his call to priesthood initially in the Archdiocese of Wellington and then with the Columbans in the Philippines and his final days before he disappeared never to be seen again.

At the end of his reflection Father Michael made special presentations to some of the people who are a vital part of his life and legacy. These included:
Maria McElroy on behalf of the Douglas family who were present in big numbers

John Kleinsman representing the people from his home parish of Johnsonville,

Staff members and students from the college in New Plymouth that proudly bears the name Francis Douglas Memorial College Patricia Brooks who made his story widely available through her book With No Regrets.

Michael Pervan who sculpted a lasting memorial to Francis Douglas.

Artist Michael Pervan (left) with Columban Fr Michael Gormly (right).

The support of people from many other parishes and organizations, from the priests of the diocese as well as religious sisters, brothers and priests was very evident and Father Michael thanked them for their presence. The local Columban group was boosted by the presence of Fr Brian Vale, Fr Noel Connolly, Fr Pat McMullen, Chris Farrelly, Garry Cockburn, Peter Toy, Tony Fouhy and Russell Woodhouse.

The focal point of the celebration was the handing over to Archbishop John Dew of Wellington and the people of the archdiocese of a marble sculpture of Francis Douglas commissioned by the Columbans and created by Auckland-based artist Michael Pervan. Archbishop John promised that it would be given a prominent position in the cathedral. He spoke of the importance of celebrating local saints as part of the Year of Faith. While New Zealand does not as yet have an official saint, in the faith imagination of many Catholics Suzanne Aubert and Fr Francis Douglas already act as inspirational figures.

Archbishop John Dew

The keynote address was given by Fr Noel Connolly and focused on what we have learned about mission since Vatican II. Father Noel demonstrated how grounding mission in the Trinity and the Kingdom of God, which was a feature of the Council, reveals a wider and more inclusive context than the one which emerges when we make the church the starting point. The mission is God’s and the church exists to serve that mission. The church is missionary by its very nature which means, he suggested, that if it is not about mission it has no reason to exist. God is saving, healing, and reconciling the world. For our part as church we need to recognize that the majority of Kingdom-good done in the world today will not be done by Catholics or even Christians. It will be done by people of many religions and none. We continue to respond to the original call of Jesus ‘to repent and believe the good news’ and to his commission ‘go out and proclaim the good news to all nations’.

There were two little moments that for me that touched gently on the meaning and impact of the life and death of Fr Francis Douglas. The first was when Michael Pervan mentioned that the piece of marble he had used for his sculpture used to form the base of a statue of Christ carrying his cross that was in the seminary in Mosgiel. The other came in the closing remarks made by Bishop Owen Dolan, retired coadjutor bishop of Palmserston North. He recalled a visit he made with Fr John Carde to Pililla. They were shown a baptismal register from 1943 with the frequent appearance of the name F V Douglas. Then in July not only does the name F V Douglas disappear but there is a long period before the next baptism is recorded.

In these days we continue to be shaken by aftershocks and stirred by the memories of the inspirational life and a glorious death of Fr Francis Vernon Douglas.

Fr Pat O'Shea is an Irish Columban who worked for some years in Mindanao. He now lives at St Columban’s Lower Hutt, New Zealand.

You can read more about Fr Douglas on the website of the school named after him, Francis Douglas Memorial College, New Plymouth, New Zealand