A Louisiana priest, who died in World War II, is being considered for sainthood.
In September 2020, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops began a canonical consultation on the cause of beatification and canonization for Father Joseph Verbis Lafleur. It is a process that can take years, even decades, to complete.
Father Lafleur was born in Ville Platte in 1912 and lived in central Louisiana until he began studying to become a priest. He eventually attended what is today known as the Notre Dame Graduate School of Theology in New Orleans.
By 1938, he received his first and only parish assignment at St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church in Abbeville. Father Lafleur served as an associate pastor until the United States entered WWII, when family members say he made a successful appeal to serve his country.
Now a chaplain, he was sent to the Philippine Islands with a unit based in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
WDSU spoke with Richard Lafleur, a nephew of Father Lafleur, and his wife, Carrol. She has done extensive research on the priest’s life and military service.
“His family only saw him one time in his military uniform and said how proud he was of the uniform but especially proud of the chaplain’s crosses on his lapel,” Carrol Lafleur said.
Historian Michael Bell, with the WWII Museum, said approximately 10,000 chaplains served in the war, representing multiple faiths.
“Before the war, most of the chaplains had been Protestants. So a lot of Catholics, Jewish rabbis, are brought in in that period, and Father Lafleur is part of that group of Catholic chaplains (who) are brought in,” Bell said. “In combat, they will help tend to the wounded, minister to those who are dying and then overseas, if necessary, those who are buried on the battlefield, how do you go through that.”
Not long after arriving overseas, Father Lafleur and the men in his unit suffered incredible hardship.
“He would bring (the men) extra food items or cigarettes and read to them,” Carrol Lafleur said. “He was always worried about the men.”
As the war dragged on, his unit was taken prisoner, and Carrol Lafleur said he volunteered for what amounted to slave labor.
In 1944, they were moved to a so-called “hell ship” called the Shinyo Maru. On Sept. 7 of that year, their ship was torpedoed by U.S. forces.
“It was in a convoy of other Japanese ships, and it was torpedoed twice by the USS Paddle because it was not carrying the white flag signifying that it had American (prisoners of war) aboard,” Carrol Lafleur said.
Approximately 750 American POWs were on the ship when it was torpedoed, according to Carrol Lafleur’s research. Witness accounts describe Father Lafleur as trying to help other men escape the sinking ship.
“One man died the next day, but 82 men were able to come back to the United States,” Carrol Lafleur said.
Father Lafleur was not one of them. He went down with the ship, dying at the age of 32.
His bravery in the face of unimaginable circumstances is still revered by historians today.
“You completely disregard your personal safety, you know, way beyond what people would (expect),” Bell said. “In his sense, he has this duty. ‘I have a duty to them.'”
More than eight decades later, Father Lafleur’s family is hopeful he will be canonized one day.
“I never thought that the cause for canonization would’ve been opened in our lifetime,” said Carrol Lafleur. “I doubt I’ll very seriously see his canonization, but I’m so hopeful to think that my children and my grandchildren will see it.”
Whatever happens, Carrol Lafleur hopes other people find inspiration from the story of a Louisiana priest whose faith was so strong, he gave his life to save others.
“That’s what can carry any of us through anything. We are so blessed to have Father Lafleur as an example,” Carrol Lafleur said.
READ MORE:From service to sainthood: The story of a Louisiana priest killed in War II
