Hero of the Faith and his Nation - Father Jesus Baza Dueñas

Commentary

There are many that qualify as heroes to their Faith, many as heroes to their country. Some qualify as both. Father Dueñas is one of those.

Born in 1914 on the small American territory of Guam to a simple but hard working and devout family. As a young man, he was called upon by God Himself to be a shepherd of souls.

After attending the seminary in the Philippines, the newly minted priest returned to his native land to be only the second ever Chamorro (the race of the indigenous people of the Marianas Islands) priest to serve both God and man.

Undoubtedly, Father Dueñas expected the life of a simple parish priest is what God had planned for him. That was anything but the case.

Dec. 8, 1941

War clouds had been brewing for quite some time all across the Pacific, and on the same day, December 8th (west of the International Date Line) and December 7th (east of the International Date Line), the Empire of Japan brought the horrors of war home to millions upon millions.

In sneak attacks from Pearl Harbor to Hong Kong to the Dutch East Indies, any normalcy in life was changed forever.

And on Guam, "the American pillbox without any guns" wasn't spared. 180 US Marines and a handful of Guamanian Insular Forces troops staged a valiant but brief fight against the 5,600 invading Japanese.

Ordered to surrender by the island's Naval Commander, it seemed the American sun has set forever on this small patch of America in the Pacific.

The Stage Is Set

Although a citizen of neutral Spain, Guam's Bishop Miguel Olano was forcibly removed from his episcopate and assigned to an Internment Camp where he was publicly humiliated by the invading Japanese. Bishop Olano was eventually under house arrest to live with other Spanish priests in Tokyo, under the protection of the Spanish government.

But in 1942, Bishop Olano wrote to Fr. Dueñas appointing him as the Pro-Vicar (temporary leader) of the Catholic Church on Guam during the bishop's forced removal. The Bishop ordered him to "defend the Chamorros in their encounters with the Japanese government."

Along with the letter, were two Japanese Catholic priests, Monsignor Dominic Fukahori and Father Petro Komatsu. These two were assigned by the Japanese government to assist in the 'Japanification' of the local populace.

Father Dueñas did not welcome the two new priests and actually considered them to be spies of the Japanese due to their liberal sprinkling of pro-Japanese sentiment into their sermons.

Once, the occupying Japanese ordered Fr. Dueñas to a propaganda rally quietly sang "God Bless America" much to the anger of the Japanese.

That first happenstance ended up becoming a regular habit... and the Japanese didn't fail to take notice. Especially the hated and ruthless Kempeitai (Japanese secret police).

At one point, Monsignor Fukahori attempted to force the young Chamorro cleric to bend to the Japanese will, and cease his pro-American rhetoric. Father Dueñas refused to accept the attempted orders of the Japanese Monsignor, and Fr. Dueñas reminded him that he was the Pro-Vicar of the entire Marianas Island chain.

Fr. Dueñas also condemned the two foreign clerics for their actions in support of the invading Japanese. "According to a letter of Pope Benedict XV to the bishops and priests all over the world, he said 'never preach the honor and glory of your country but only the word of God.'" Fr. Dueñas warned them that if he should survive the war, he would do everything in his power to have them removed from the Catholic Church as priests.

Besides his patriotic fervor, Fr. Dueñas would also regularly instruct his flock to disobey any order that conflicted with their religious beliefs and obligations. Japanese patience was wearing thin.

In one particularly heated moment, the young priest publicly proclaimed that he was answerable only to God. "And the Japanese are not God," he made clear on more than one occasion.

The Final Straw

As the American military closed in for the eventual liberation of the enslaved Chamorros, the Japanese forced the people, at bayonet point, to fortify the island. In July of 1944, freedom was at hand, but not before a seemingly never-ending nightmare of beatings, slave labor, gang rapes and massacres had run their course.

As the American military was on the verge of landing to free their fellow Americans, the Kempeitai arrested both the Pro-Vicar and his nephew, Attorney Edward Dueñas, when it was revealed that they were instrumental in keeping the lone American Serviceman, Navy Radioman George Tweed, hidden in the jungles since the island first fell two and a half years earlier.

Fr. Dueñas was publicly beaten and tortured for three days at the steps of his church in the village of Inarajan. Not once did Father Dueñas reveal Tweed's whereabouts or cry out for mercy. Not once.

After being taken to the village of Mangilao to await execution, Fr. Dueñas had the opportunity to escape. His reply, "No, I would rather not. The Japanese know they can't prove their charges against me. I appreciate your offer but we must also think of our families. You must know what would happen to them if we escape. I'm positive the Japanese will retaliate against them. Go and look after your own families. God will look after me. I have done no wrong."

Father Dueñas was beheaded nine days before American forces returned to liberate the Guamanian people.

I'm proud to say that Father Dueñas is my second cousin.

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