Still missing in Korea
28.11.2008
One priest killed. Grave fears for eight others.
Of our nine priests of St Columban’s, missing for several months now in the Korean conflict, one is officially reported dead. Father Anthony Collier was killed by Reds in Chunchon three days after war broke out. An account of his death written by Father Brian Geraghty, Superior of St Columban’s in Korea.
In the same letter Father Geraghty expressed the grave fears of their fellow missionaries for the safety of the remaining eight. These include the two Prefects Apostolic of our Korean mission districts, Monsignor Thomas Quinlan of Shunsen and Monsignor Patrick Brennan of Kwoshu. Shunsen extended up to the 38th parallel.
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Indeed, the creation of that unhappy boundary had placed three of its parishes in the Communist zone. In crossing the parallel, the Northern armies were driving straight into Shunsen Prefecture. One of their first objectives would have been Hongchon, a parish in the charge of a zealous young Victorian priest, Father Philip Crosbie.
Since those first invasion days no word has been heard of Father Crosbie. A day or two later, the Red armies reached Chunchon, headquarters of Monsignor Quinlan. In the attack on Chunchon, Monsignor Quinlan was reported to have been accidentally wounded in the jaw by shrapnel. Later reports told how he and other priests had been taken to the Korean capital.
When the Reds were driven out of Seoul by the advancing U.N. Forces, a number of prisoners, including the Apostolic Delegate, Bishop Byrne, Monsignor Quinlan and some priests, were taken with them.
Meanwhile, the North Korean army continued its victorious drive and some weeks later was approaching Mokpo, headquarters of the Prefecture Apostolic of Kwosbu. Monsignor Brennan ordered the young priests who were with him to the safety of Pusan. He himself, with Fathers Cusack and O’Brien, elected to remain on to await the Communist advance.
He refused to abandon the refugees, including many Korean nuns and Catholic women, who swelled the numbers in Mokpo and for whom there was no possibility of escape. Beyond unverified rumors no news has come from these three priests.
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When the North Koreans were rolled back and Mokpo was reoccupied, they were not to be found. Of the nine priests Monsignor Patrick Brennan is American, Father James McGinn was born in the United States of America but brought up in Ireland, Father Philip Crosbie is Australian, and the rest are Irish. “Monsignor Brennan, Fathers Cusack and O’Brien were in jail in Chunju,” says Father Geraghty. “I feared they might have been killed in Taejon, but Father Carroll saw most of the bodies there and could not find any of our missing priests among the thousand he scrutinised.”
There can be no doubt of their heroism and sacrifice in remaining with their people. From the account of Father Collier’s death* it is clear that even the priests near the 38th parallel had ample warning of danger, but preferred to remain in their parishes. The others in Mokpo had several weeks’ warning. Such heroism merits our admiration and our prayers.
- Taken from The Far East, December 1950.
