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| Servant of God Joseph Verbis Lafleur |
Joseph Verbis Lafleur was born on January 24, 1912, in Ville Platte, Louisiana, to Agatha and Valentine Lafleur. From childhood, he wanted to become a priest. At seven, he began serving as an altar boy. His family moved to Opelousas in 1926, where he spoke to the pastor of Saint Landry Church about entering the seminary. The vocation he had expressed as a boy would eventually carry him far from Louisiana.
He entered Saint Joseph’s Minor Seminary in 1927 and later continued his formation at Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans. Ordained in 1938, Father Lafleur celebrated his first Solemn High Mass in his home parish of Saint Landry. His first assignment was as assistant pastor at Saint Mary Magdalen Church in Abbeville. There he began the parish ministry that preceded his decision to volunteer as a military chaplain.
In 1941, Father Lafleur joined the Army Air Corps. Assigned to the 19th Bombardment Group, he traveled to the Philippines, where his unit was stationed at Clark Field. His responsibilities included celebrating Mass, administering the sacraments, and caring for the spiritual needs of the servicemen. Within months, the approaching war would place those responsibilities amid bombardment, retreat, and captivity. The young parish priest had become a chaplain to men facing extraordinary danger.
On December 8, 1941, Japanese aircraft attacked Clark Field. Father Lafleur moved among the wounded, helped carry men to safety, assisted those providing medical care, and offered spiritual comfort to the dying. His commanding officer later remembered his disregard for personal safety and the encouragement he gave the soldiers afterward. His actions during the attack earned him the Distinguished Service Cross. His priestly service had taken the form of remaining close to men in immediate need.
As the military situation deteriorated, Father Lafleur had an opportunity to leave. He asked whether the men entrusted to him would also be going. Learning that only some could depart, he chose to remain. The words associated with that decision were simple. “My place is with the men.” He subsequently became a Japanese prisoner of war. Captivity brought hunger, illness, and deprivation, but he continued serving his fellow prisoners and sought ways to provide for their needs.
At Davao Penal Colony, Father Lafleur and other prisoners constructed a small wooden chapel that they called Saint Peter in Chains. There he celebrated Christmas Eve Mass in 1942. He offered the sacraments, listened to the prisoners, and encouraged them to persevere. Later, while recovering from malaria, he volunteered to accompany men being transferred to a forced labor camp at Lasang. His commitment to remain among those needing a priest continued through the hardships of imprisonment.
In September 1944, hundreds of American prisoners were crowded aboard the Japanese transport ship Shinyo Maru. Conditions below deck were oppressive, with heat, poor ventilation, and little space. On September 7, the American submarine USS Paddle torpedoed the vessel off Mindanao. The Americans did not realize that prisoners of war were aboard. As the ship sank, Japanese guards fired at prisoners struggling to escape from the holds and at men already in the water.
Survivors remembered Father Lafleur helping fellow prisoners reach the deck under gunfire. He was last seen assisting others out of the sinking ship. He did not survive. At thirty two, the priest who had chosen to stay with his men died while helping them escape. In October 2017, his family received a second Distinguished Service Cross and another Purple Heart awarded posthumously in recognition of his sacrifice. The testimony of survivors preserved the memory of his final service.
On September 5, 2020, Bishop J. Douglas Deshotel formally opened Father Lafleur’s cause for beatification and canonization in the Diocese of Lafayette. He is known as Servant of God Joseph Verbis Lafleur, and the examination of his life continues. His story offers a witness to priestly charity expressed through steadfast companionship. From parish ministry to a prison camp and a sinking ship, he remained close to those entrusted to him, giving his strength and ultimately his life in their service.
