Reply #35: Father Mychal Judge. [View All]

[no_hypocrisy]

The first official casualty recorded of September 11, 2001 was Mychal Judge, an elderly Franciscan priest who was killed after he had just administered the last rites to a fireman who had been struck by the body of a woman who had jumped from the towers. He was the chaplain of the New York City Fire Department.

He wore his Franciscan habit almost everywhere and rejoiced in his vow of poverty. As a priest he often sought out and confronted people who had been rebuffed by the harshness of other priests. His chief ministries were to the firemen of NYC, to recovering alcoholics in AA (himself being one), to people suffering from AIDS (he was gay), and to Franciscans preparing to make their solemn vows.