Father Judge

Is there so much love in the world

That we can afford to discriminate 

Against any kind of love? 

-The Rev. Mychal Fallon Judge

Three weeks from today is September 11, 2020.  Nineteen years ago, September 11 fell on a Tuesday.  It was a beautiful, blue-sky morning.  

The Rev. Mychal Fallon Judge, O.F.M. 

Chaplain, FDNY

Father Mychal Judge was ordained in 1961, twenty-eight years after being in Brooklyn as the older of a set of fraternal twins. He, his twin sister Dympna, and his older sister Erin grew up as children of the Great Depression.  

In 1992, Father Judge joined the FDNY as a Chaplain.  He relished his work.  He was often among the first on the scene of a tragedy, ministering to its victims and to their families.  He loved the FDNY and the FDNY loved him - as did the addicts, the homeless, and the dispossessed to whom he ministered.  

Shortly after American Airlines Flight 11 tore into the North Tower of the World Trade Center at approximately 8:45 am on that terrible Tuesday morning, Father Judge arrived on the scene. Mayor Giuliani asked him to pray for the victims and to pray for New York City.  In the street outside the Twin Towers, Father Judge prayed over the bodies lying there.  When a command post was set up in the lobby of the North Tower, Father Judge moved inside and, there, continued to minister to the dead, the injured, and the men and women pouring into the building to rescue those trapped inside. 

At 9:59 am, the South Tower collapsed.  It collapse sent debris flying into and through the North Tower lobby, killing a number of people.  Father Judge was struck in the head by a piece of debris, which killed him.  His body was discovered by NYPD Lieutenant William Cosgrove who, along with FF Christian Waugh, FF Zachary Vause, EMT Kevin Allen (all three of whom were FDNY), and former Major John P. Maguire, United States Army (a civilian who was at the scene), carried Father Judge from the building.   

Photo Credit - Shannon Stapleton (Reuters)

It remains an iconic image of that day.  Five men, some of whom were likely strangers to one another and strangers to Father Judge, coming together to assist one who had devoted his life to coming to assisting others.  

-AK