There was Father José Tárrago from Aragón in Spain. He was a young priest, 32 years old, when he went to Culión in 1911 and spent eight years there. The first four years he had great success especially among the young. He formed a Sodality, and also organized a brass band which in time became the official band of the Colony, giving musical concerts every Sunday. One day he noticed some growth in his hand and he presented himself for examination by the Head Physician who said he had leprosy. He must leave the Jesuit Residence the following day and go to live in the segregated area as a leper among lepers. (The Jesuits went every day to visit the hospitals and the lepers in their homes, but they lived outside, among the medical staff.) That night after supper Father Tárrago told his companions, "I have joyful news. God has given me the grace to be a leper. Tomorrow I must leave you and go to live among the lepers." Early the following morning he left the house and walked along the seashore to the segregated area. He had no place to live, so one of the lepers, a Cebuano, vacated his own house and gave it to the priest. Father Tárrago continued to work as a priest among the lepers, but he could not say Mass until they were able to procure for him his own vestments and his own chalice.
He lived that way for four years, a leper among lepers. Then a medical team arrived from Manila to examine him and they pronounced him free of leprosy. The original diagnosis had been a mistake. He was released from Culión. But he could no longer work in the Philippines because people were afraid to go near him. So he volunteered for the missions in China and worked there until too old and infirm. He died in Spain.
Then there was Father Vigano, an Italian. Everyone called him Father Vigano, but in reality he was a bishop. He had been a bishop in India where he did splendid work. He resigned and became the Superior General of a missionary society of priests. When his term of office ended he asked to be admitted as a Jesuit and be sent to work in a leprosarium. He was assigned to Culión.
He first had to learn Spanish, so he spent one year in Spain. In Culión he tried to learn Tagalog, but being already in his sixties, he found it difficult. But he continued to work among the lepers and was well liked. A series of severe headaches (probably mild strokes) was misdiagnosed. He was sent to Baguio to recuperate and got worse. They sent him back to Italy and he died in Rome. Because he was a bishop and a former Superior General, he was buried among the Jesuit Superiors General.
Then there was Father Carl Hausmann who had been my own teacher at Novaliches. Sent to Culión he learned both Tagalog and Cebuano Visayan. (He already knew seven other languages: English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Latin, Greek.) He wrote the History of Culión.
In 1941, when President Roosevelt created the USAFFE, there was a demand for chaplains. He volunteered and was among the many Americans whom the Japanese imprisoned, first in Davao, then in Bilibid, Manila, then in Cabanatuan, then in Taiwan, and finally was put in a dreadfully overcrowded ship bound for Japan. He died of starvation and was buried at sea. But everyone — in Davao, in Bilibid, in Cabanatuan, and in the prison ship — those who survived were unanimous in their testimony: He was a saint.
The Japanese gave very little food to their prisoners. Father Hausmann would give half of his own meager ration to others whom he thought needed it more. When somebody was assigned to work but was too weak to do it, Father Hausmann would do it so that the other fellow would not be punished. One chaplain later said, "He was a saint." Another put it more emphatically, "Living or dead he is a saint."
In the past 99 years (from 1906 to 2005) there have been a total of 57 Jesuits who have served in Culión (43 priests, 14 brothers). In all of them there must have been many a heroic moment, for although Culión is a place of great natural beauty, life in that Colony is not easy.
Culión is now no longer a leper colony. It is considered a regular municipality. But for a long time (especially when there were over 5,000 lepers there) it was a dreaded island. And even now, there are many problems in a community that is in many ways abnormal.
But as I sat in the veranda, with that magnificent view of mountains and sea and sky, I felt that I was in an island of saints.