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Joseph Verbis Lafleur, a Cajun American, was born on January 24, 1912 in Ville Platte, Louisiana, one of seven children. When he was very young, his father left the family, leaving his mother to raise the seven children. This she did by taking various jobs and raising a garden for food.
In the early 1920s, the family moved 20 miles away to Opelousas, Louisiana. Young Joseph became involved in the Catholic Church of the town, St. Landry.
When he was 14, Joseph told his pastor that he wanted to become a priest, and needed his help. The priest, with Mrs. Lafleur’s blessing, was happy to help. Soon, Joseph entered St. Joseph’s Minor Seminary and then Notre Dame Major Seminary in New Orleans.
Joseph was ordained on April 5, 1938 and celebrated his first Solemn High Mass of Thanksgiving in his home parish, St. Landry Church. His first assignment as a priest of the Archdiocese of New Orleans was to be the assistant pastor, or vicar, of St. Mary Magdalene Catholic Church in Abbeville. As it turned out, this first assignment would be his one and only assignment as a priest of the Archdiocese of New Orleans.
In the parish, Fr. Joseph showed himself to not only be a happy priest, but also a very energetic one. He helped organize men into various activities in the parish, such as hosting baseball games. He also started a Holy Name Society to help men develop their spiritual lives, and he began discussion groups for those affected by the loss of family members serving in the Armed Forces away from home.
Fr. Joseph was very generous not only with his time, but also with material things. For example, for the poor boys in the parish, he made sure they had baseball gloves, bats, balls, and whatever else they needed for their games. He enjoyed coaching them and giving them tips on life as well as baseball. It was only years later that the young men learned that Fr. Joseph was able to buy the baseball equipment for them because he had sold his precious watch.
Three years later, in the summer of 1941, Fr. Joseph received permission to become a military chaplain. So, he was sent first to Albuquerque, New Mexico in the Army Air Corps. From there, he was sent to Clark Field near Manila, Philippines.
A few weeks after arriving in the Philippines as an Army chaplain, Japanese planes attacked Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Immediately, the United States was at war in the Pacific.
Fr. Joseph cared for the wounded as best he could and celebrated the Sacrament of the Sick with the wounded and dying men. He also saved the lives of three men. When he had the chance to avoid being captured by the Japanese, he refused, saying, “I shall stay here. My place is with the men.” In many respects, he was like two other Catholic priests, Servant of God Stanley Rother of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma who was martyred in Guatemala, and Servant of God Vincent Robert Capadanno, a Maryknoll Missionary killed while serving his men in battle in South Vietam.
Fr. Joseph and many other airmen became prisoners-of-war. They were moved to four different camps around the Philippines. During his captivity, Fr. Joseph spent his time nursing the sick, making sure malaria victims had adequate food and medicine, and sold his watch and glasses to buy more food. When the Japanese soldiers found him helping others, they beat him. That, however, did not stop Fr. Joseph from serving his fellow soldiers.
In one prison camp he was at, he built a bamboo chapel that he called “St. Peter in Chains” where he had daily Mass. Nearly 200 American prisoners converted to Catholicism because of witnessing Fr. Joseph’s love of Jesus humanity. One such man, in time, was freed, got married and had a son. The son grew up and became a Catholic priest and military chaplain.
When 750 prisoners were going to be moved to repair a Japanese air strip, Fr. Joseph took the place of one of them so the man could be free, much like St. Maximillian Kolbe volunteered to take the place of a fellow prisoner in the Nazi death camp, Dachau. The prisoners were boarded on the freighter ship SHINYO MARU. Although it was supposed to fly a white flag to indicate there were prisoners of war on it, the ship did not. Therefore, an American submarine shot at the SHINYO MARU. Immediately, Fr. Joseph led the men in praying the Rosary, gave absolution, and blessed them all.
When it became obvious that not all could escape, Fr. Joseph spent his last hours pushing other men to safety. 83 men escaped thanks to Fr. Joseph’s efforts. He was 38 years old and a First Lieutenant. Fr. Joseph went down with the ship; his body was never found. Military awards include a Purple Heart, Bronze Star Medal, and Distinguished Service Award.
Today, he is on the path to sainthood and known as Servant of God Joseph Verbis Lafleur.
