Sunday, September 11, 2011

Out Spotlight

Today’s Out Spotlight was perhaps, New York City's most recognized and beloved Catholic priest, with an unwavering dedication to putting himself at the center of human anguish - and with an uncanny knack for ending up in the limelight. The chaplain to the New York City Fire Department, he died September 11, 2001 in the North Tower of the World Trade Center and became the first officially recorded fatality following the attack. Today’s Out Spotlight is Father Mychal F. Judge, OFM.

Father Mychal F. Judge was born Robert Emmett Judge in Brooklyn, NY on May 11, 1933, was the son of two Irish immigrants from County Leitrim, Ireland. He lost his father after a long illness and to help his mother and two sisters make ends meet, he shined shoes in Manhattan, ran errands and did odd jobs, before being called to his Franciscan vocation at age 16.

He entered St. Joseph’s Seraphic Seminary, Callicoon, NY, and graduated in 1954 after completing the first two years of college.

He was received into the Franciscan Order on August 12, 1954 and the following year, on August 13, professed his first vows of poverty, chastity and obedience as stated in the Rule of Life of St. Francis of Assisi. He professed final vows on August 20, 1958, taking the name Michael.

He was ordained to the priesthood on February 25, 1961 at the Franciscan Monastery – Mt. St. Sepulchre, Washington, DC. He spent a year in pastoral training at St. Anthony Shrine, Boston, Mass., before his first assignment 1962-66 as an assistant at St. Joseph’s Church, East Rutherford, NJ and then served as an assistant at Sacred Heart Church, Rochelle Park, NJ from 1967-69. In 1969 he came to St. Francis of Assisi Church, New York City, as local moderator for the Secular Franciscan fraternities.

In 1970, he returned to St. Joseph’s Church, as coordinator of the parochial team ministry of Franciscan friars. After six years, he was appointed as assistant to the president at Siena College in Loudonville, NY, where he served until 1979. He then became pastor of St. Joseph’s Church in West Milford, NJ. In 1985 he undertook a one-year theological sabbatical at the Franciscan house of studies in Canterbury, England.

Upon returning in the summer of 1986, he was appointed an associate pastor of St. Francis of Assisi Church, New York City. At the friary there, finding many “Michaels” on the staff, he decided to change the spelling of his name to Mychal. Only a few days after arriving at St. Francis, he responded to a call to celebrate Mass in the hospital room of New York police officer Steven McDonald, who had been critically wounded during an investigation of a youth in Central Park. It was his first official connection to the NYPD and NYFD.

In 1992, upon the death of Fr. Julian Deeken, a Franciscan friar who had served as one of the Catholic chaplains for the New York Fire Department, Father Mychal accepted an invitation to serve temporarily in his place. Fr. Mychal was named chaplain officially in 1994 to serve the boroughs of Manhattan, the Bronx, and Staten Island. He offered encouragement and prayers at fires, rescues, and hospitals, and counseled firemen and their families, often working 16 hour days. "His whole ministry was about love. Mychal loved the fire department and they loved him."

When TWA Flight 800 exploded shortly after takeoff from New York in July 1996 and fell into the Atlantic off Long Island, Fr Mychal helped counsel the families and friends of the victims every day for three weeks and worked to arrange a permanent memorial at the site. He had since returned every summer to offer a memorial service and comfort the families.

In New York, Fr. Mychal was also well known for ministering to the homeless, the hungry, recovering alcoholics, people with AIDS, the sick, injured, and grieving, immigrants, gays and lesbians and those alienated by the Church. He once gave the winter coat off his back to a homeless woman in the street, later saying, "She needed it more than me." When he anointed a man who was dying of AIDS, the man asked him, "Do you think God hates me?" Father Judge just picked him up, kissed him, and silently rocked him in his arms.

Even before his death, many considered Fr Mychal to be a living saint for his extraordinary works of charity and his deep spirituality. While praying, he would sometimes "become so lost in God, as if lost in a trance, that he'd be shocked to find several hours had passed."

"He achieved an extraordinary degree of union with the divine," said Judge's former spiritual director, Father John McNeill. "We knew we were dealing with someone directly in line with God."

Upon hearing the news that the World Trade Center had been hit, Fr Mychal rushed to the site. He was met by the Mayor of New York, Rudolph Giuliani, who asked him to pray for the city and its victims. He administered the Last Rites to some lying on the streets, then entered the lobby of the World Trade Center North Tower, where an emergency command post was organized. There he continued offering aid and prayers for the rescuers, the injured and dead.

When the South Tower collapsed at 9:59 am, debris went flying through the North Tower lobby, killing many inside, including Judge. He had taken off his helmet to give Last Rites those around him in the lobby, at the moment he was struck in the head and killed, Judge was repeatedly praying aloud, "Jesus, please end this right now! God, please end this!”, according to Judge's biographer and New York Daily News columnist Michael Daly.

Shortly after his death, a NYPD lieutenant, who had also been buried in the collapse, found his body and assisted by two firemen and two civilian bystanders carried it out of the North Tower lobby to nearby St Peter's Church. This event was captured in the documentary film 9/11, shot by Jules and Gedeon Naudet. Shannon Stapleton, photographer from Reuters, photographed Judge's body being carried out of the rubble by five men. It became one of the most famous images related to 9/11.

With no one to give him Last Rites, and in the middle of all the chaos, dust and horror, the two cops knelt down in the street next to him. As people ran screaming all around them, they laid hands on his body, said the Lord's Prayer and paused for a moment of silence. They then stood, hugged each other, and ran back into the burning buildings to keep pulling people to freedom.

Father Mychal Judge was designated as "Victim 0001," recognized as the first official victim of the September 11, 2001 attacks. Other victims perished before him including air crew, passengers, and occupants of the towers, but Judge was the first certified fatality because his was the first body to be recovered and taken to the coroner.

Judge's body was formally identified by NYPD Detective Steven McDonald, a long-time friend. The NY Medical Examiner found that Judge died of "blunt force trauma to the head".

On September 15, over 3000 people packed St Francis of Assisi Church for his funeral, while crowds stood in the street outside watching on television screens. Inside, former president Bill Clinton remembered how he "lit up the White House" at a prayer breakfast; New York's new Archbishop, Cardinal Egan, proclaimed him "a saint"; and his fellow Franciscan, Father Michael Duffy said: "Mychal Judge has always been my friend. And now he is my hero."

Thousands felt the same. One of the firefighters, who had come to the church still covered in grime from Ground Zero, simply said: "I just think God wanted somebody to lead the guys to heaven."

In the months following Fr Mychal's death, accolades continued to pile up around him. He received honorary doctorates, religious prizes and an international award for "Moral Courage". He had streets, ferries and scholarships named after him. He was named the honorary Grand Marshal of St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Chicago in 2002. The New York City firefighters solemnly presented his helmet to the Pope in St Peter's Basilica, the nation of France gave him its Legion of Honor, and in Ireland named him its Man of the Year.

Judge, however, was not just the real thing - he was a real man. In the days following 9-11 attention turned to the actual life, personality and spirituality of the man who died so heroically in lower Manhattan on that dark day.

In many ways, he seemed to be the model of the good priest. Without question, he was passionately committed to pastoral ministry and his generosity and compassion made people flock to him, especially in times of need.

However, some suggest there was something obsessive about Judge's commitment to ministry. Underneath his genuine warmth, humor and dedication he was a driven man who struggled with issues of self-worth and addiction. He was an alcoholic who had been sober since 1978, and he relied upon regular meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous to maintain focus and inner peace. He took the spirituality of AA's 12 steps deeply into his soul, and he learned self-acceptance and perseverance in the company of people who were struggling just like him. He had no illusions about himself, and it was his direct, transparent humanness that drew all kinds of people to him.

People also turned to him when the church had failed them. He was always ready to bend the rules, offer a hug and a blessing and show people what the love of God was really like. In the early days of the AIDS epidemic, when nurses were frightened to touch people with AIDS and priests were refusing to bury them, Judge would often turn up at a hospital room unannounced. He would quietly turn back the covers on the bed of an AIDS patient and gently massage his feet. One man remembers that when his partner was dying,he came to give him Holy Communion.

His commitment to being close to people in their brokenness, and his astonishing tenderness, were forged in a heart weathered by his own struggle to believe he was embraced and blessed by God. What many did know was that Fr. Mychal was gay. He was a celibate gay man

One reporter received a letter from a friend from Ireland in it, it read: "What has not yet come out is that Mychal was gay. He was also not fully 'out'. Sometimes when we visited gay clubs in the Village he would joke that he had his clerical collar in his pocket, so that if a fire truck passed him on the street he could slip it on and say he was on a pastoral visit."

But Fr. Mychal Judge was no cowering, closeted cleric. His fellow Franciscans, senior firefighters, people in AA and countless Catholics in New York knew he was gay, and knew that he was committed to using his priesthood, his resources and his energies to support and empower gay people in spiritual, practical and even financial ways. He did this even as he maintained his official cover within the institutional church, taking extraordinary risks and making the system serve justice.

Journal entries published in The Book of Mychal, a 2008 biography, showed how he struggled with the secretiveness his sexual orientation sometimes required. "I thought of my gay self and how the people I meet never get to know me fully," he wrote.

He bent church rules by joining the gay Catholic group Dignity and allowing it to meet in his Franciscan-run parish. He counseled gay couples and the parents of gay children, according to Fay, and began ministering to AIDS victims during the 1980s, when the disease was considered a gay scourge.

After years of struggle and uncertainty, Judge had learned to accept his sexuality as a gift of God, and when gay newspapers in Manhattan broke the story of the "gay saint" and printed his picture on their front pages instead of some hot hunk, friends said that he would have laughed and been delighted.

The Church, however, was not so pleased. The Cardinal literally fled from gay journalists who asked him about the homosexual he had so recently proclaimed a saint. Some of his friends received angry phone calls from conservative clerics after they spoke to the gay press. Judge's image started disappearing from church websites and newspapers, and talk of canonisation died. It seemed Catholic leaders had no idea how to handle this holy gay man.

But some did. When All Saints Church in Syracuse, NY, sought a way to signal its hospitality to gays and lesbians in their parish, they turned to a well-known image from the 9/11 attacks: the five men carrying a Fr. Mychal from the wreckage of the World Trade Center to create at statue for their church. All Saints hopes the statue will demonstrate that the parish, following Judge's lead, is committed to closing the chasms between rich and poor, black and white, gay and straight, said the Rev. Fred Daley, the church's pastor. Moreover, Daley said, the monument will memorialize a man who, like many gays and lesbians, struggled to fit into a church that considers homosexual desires "an intrinsic moral evil" and seeks to prohibit gay men from becoming priests.

"Here's a gay person who was committed to celibacy, flourishing in the priesthood. It breaks so many stereotypes that people have," said Daley, who came out as gay himself in 2004."For young gay people in particular, how good it is that Mychal Judge can be a role model for them."

Fr Mychal has become a hero bordering on sainthood to scores of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Catholics.

While some of the Judge's closest friends didn't know he was gay, David Fullam, whose firehouse sat across the street from the Franciscan friary. The former firefighter wears a bracelet emblazoned with Judge's name and donated $240 recently to All Saints' monument fund.

"We knew that he ministered to the AIDS population and the gay population," Fullam said. "He was very inclusive." While some firefighters were taken aback when they learned that Judge was gay after his death, they would have accepted him regardless, he said.

"We didn't care if he was gay or straight," Fullam said. "We loved him."

In June 2002, President George W. Bush signed the Mychal Judge Act, granting federal money to certain survivors of victims of 9/11, including same-sex partners.

As the days went by, we learned that some of the missing rescue personnel were gay, and that many of their lovers, some of whom are cops and fire fighters, were grieving in silence for fear of outing them. There were also gay cops that lost family members that were rescue personnel. We all learned too quickly and in too cruel a way that the closet is a terrible place to grieve... -- Edgar Rodriguez, executive director, Gay Officers Action League New York, Rodriquez lost his partner a firefighter on 9-11.

Tom Ryan, one of just three out-of-the-closet firefighters in New York at the time, [said] he "learned that about 25 closeted gay firefighters died on Sept. 11," and he knows "others who survived but are still afraid to come out."

We remember some of those in the LGBT community that are known to have lost their lives 10 years ago today.

Mark Bingham, United Airlines Flight 93

Carol Flyzik's, American Airlines Flight 11

David Charlebois, co-pilot of American Airlines Flight 77

Graham Berkeley, United Airlines Flight 175

Ronald Gamboa and Dan Brandhorst, United Airlines Flight 175
The couple was flying home to LA with their 3-year-old adopted son, David. They were founding members of the Pop Luck Club in Los Angeles.

Joe Ferguson, American Airlines Flight 77
Director of geography education outreach for the National Geographic Society

Jeffrey Collman, flight attendant American Airlines Flight 11

Waleska Martinez, United Airlines Flight 93

Pamela J. Boyce, WTC

John Keohane, NYC

Sheila Hein, Pentagon

Eddie Ognibene, WTC North Tower

Eugene Clark, WTC South Tower

Wesley Mercer, VP of Corporate Security Morgan Stanley, WTC North Tower

Luke Dudek, Windows on the World

Michael Lepore, WTC North Tower

Tony Karnes, WTC North Tower

Seamus O'Neal, WTC

Catherine Smith, WTC

Patricia McAneney, WTC

Renee Barrett, WTC North Tower

Always Remembered, Never Forgotten.

28 comments:

Florida Tom said...

Heartbreaking. Father Mychal was such a hero as were so many others.


Hard to believe 10 years. I will never forget.

Special K said...

This song reminds me of the scene in Frankie & Johnny (Pacino & Pfeiffer)the sunrise in New York, the dawn of the new day and the promise of the future ahead.

destiny said...

Very touching profile, and the music choice is perfect.

Wonderful said...

Beautiful Spotlight. :')

Florida Tom said...

Mark Kendall Bingham, born May 22, 1970 in Phoenix, Arizona, was a passenger on United Airlines Flight 93 which crashed in Pennsylvania. Mark, an openly gay man, assisted in defending the aircraft against the attackers and is considered one of the many heroes of that day. San Francisco has officially designated September 16 Mark Bingham Day. His memory lives on with the many other gay and lesbian victims of 9/11.
Former Rugby Star:
Mark Bingham played rugby for the University of California, Berkeley. The International Gay Rugby Association and Board's (IGRAB) biannual international, non-professional, gay rugby union tournament, Mark Kendall Bingham Memorial Tournament or the Bingham Cup, is named after the hero and athlete.


There were so many heros on 9/11/02 but it is nice to point out the GLBT heros of that day on this particular site.

prairiegirl said...

I'm unbelievably touched and humbled.

This has been without a doubt, my most favorite, outstanding Out Spotlight, Special. I'm blown away.

I've never seen that picture before and it's so poignant. It is followers such as Father Mychal that I hope people see Jesus' real love in. His presence is not in the rules and regulations, the massive structures, the politics and the picketing, the abortion clinic bombings, etc.

His Love was breathing out of Father Mychal through his own brokenness. His love breathed with his servitude to the shunned and ministry to all who were in pain. Someone such as him make me feel like such a pitiful shortcoming but I tell you what.

What an experience of spiritual love to just read this Spotlight. Father Mychal ministered to me tonight and oh my goodness, I saw His love all over this story.

One of God's angels on earth, that sounds like what Father Mychal was. Thank you, Father Mychal, faithful servant.

prairiegirl said...

So, so well done, Special.

That was a story of love so beautifully told and written, my friend. One of your best works. Ever.

Not The End of Watch Yet said...

I didn’t want to post yesterday after that beautiful post in memoriam of 9/11 and Father Mychal F. Judge. But I want to point out that those who believe a real moment took place with Jake wearing that wedding band in Barstow are onto something for some very important reasons. As has already been pointed out there are far too many “mistakes” to explain them away as sloppiness. I believe too that Jake was caught out in the open just being Jake hence this is why there is such an uproar and a sudden story being created that they were filming in Barstow. Forgive my length, but the issue requires it. Points made already:

1) POP Sugar story on September 6: “Anna and Jake were joined by a few friends for a quick Labor Day trip to Vegas, and the crew stopped off for sandwiches on the way home.”

2) Posted at IMDb from PEOPLE: “First up, Anna Kendrick got close with Gyllenhaal during a pit stop at a gas station, where the End of Watch costars stocked up on drinks and sandwiches, reportedly after a quick trip to Las Vegas with a group of friends. A source insists the two are just costars and pals.”

3) Eonline: “Just yesterday, he flew to Las Vegas for a quickie, one-day Labor Day trip with his current End of Watch costar Anna, though they were also joined by a few friends. They were spotted again in Los Angeles last night (Labor Day), grabbing some Starbucks and Subway (glamorous combo), where Jake pulled his—at minimum—costar in for a big old hug, walking away from the fast food chain with his arm around the actress.

4) Jake suddenly seen out on Tuesday, September 6 walking with a friend and Atticus on a day in LA when it topped the upper 90s and was terribly humid. This happens whenever Jake is in trouble because of some of screw up. His people tell him to go out and be seen. Distraction.

5) No sound equipment anywhere around. Have to have sound to film. No small personal cameras, attached to anyone.

6) No tweets or Facebook sightings, local newspaper articles, etc. Three hours spent filming and eating right out in the open and there would have been plenty of activity and crowds gathering around. That particular rest stop on the way to Vegas is a very popular stopping off point. This group would not have been able to remain undetected.

And, here’s my contribution. If indeed Jake and Anna were filming, “in character” Taylor would have been wearing his watch and that paracord survival bracelet. He’s an ex-Marine so that would have been standard equipment. In other words, he wouldn’t be caught without them. Policemen are very time conscious so that huge watch he sported would not have gone missing either. If you look at the E! video (interview with Ben Lyons), you can see that Jake is wearing both even when he is in a social setting, like there are a second skin. And, secondly, notice how Anna Kendrick is wearing her personal sunglasses in those photos. Not prop glasses. Low budget film or not, it is highly unlikely that she would be wearing her own dark glasses while filming, but she would if they were just driving into Vegas and stopped off to shop and grab a bite to eat.

Kendrick’s Personal Sunglasses

Lastly, you normally would not get these kind of amazingly different stories about a single, supposedly innocent event, if something wasn't up. This is not just sloppiness. It's likewise interesting that most of the stories have them coming back from Vegas, not going to Vegas. These factural errors are intentional to confuse and distract and mislead.

actually said...

^Wouldn't this also explain the Jake Gyllenhaal is a Ladies Man stuff that was pushed out within a four day span last week? All those women seen with Jake were either longtime friends (Rashida & Busy) or a coworker (Anna). Yet, the rags worked overtime to transform the story into Jake the single, heterosexual man. By the way, Jake was in the Bay Area again over the weekend.

Wonder who?. said...

By the way, Jake was in the Bay Area again over the weekend.

Yep with a woman.

actually said...

Fogot to mention that is a very, very impressive compilation. Did anyone notice that some stories even said they were together at night. That is one glaring mistake by Eonline since it's easy to tell the photos are in the daytime.

actually said...

Wrong. Jake was there for the Alice Waters initiative again.

curious said...

I saw that Jake was in SF, but where did you see he was with a woman?

Wonder who?. said...

Berkeley actually, Facebook, also you should all read the messageboard on Ted's AW, very interesting.

actually said...

Yes, I should have been more precise. Jake was in Berkeley.

curious said...

Wonder who, any links to help me get started?

the real m said...

One of the best all time out spotlights ever.

You can always tell when omg is on to something. Since Jake is done filming and looking for new work, it's not surprising that the he's not gay message is high on PR's agenda.

Taking a sightseeing rest before we head for Paris tomorrow. quite nice here today. Windy, but sunny and comfortable.

Special K said...

Great Find "Not The End of Watch Yet".

It's true an officer wouldn't be without a watch. It's almost like muscle memory of putting one on, even off duty. So if Jake was playing Taylor he would have those things he wears all the time, the survival bracelet and the watch.

Also good find on Anna's sunglasses.

Again, you have to wonder if it was just filming there wouldn't have been the almost three-ring circus of stories, photos and sightings that happened at the beginning of last week.

Not The End of Watch Yet said...

Since Jake is done filming and looking for new work, it's not surprising that the he's not gay message is high on PR's agenda.

Oh, this is about much, much more than that. Jake was caught out in the open with a wedding ban on. Austin Nichols was probably there too. There is really no pattern of PR pushing Jake is not gay right after he completes filming. Jake plays the good boy while he's working and then he acts like a free man aferwards. (Right after Prince of Persia opened, he's seen out with Austin immediately, beard in the background for effect.)

Special K said...

Saw that Jake was in SF/Berkeley over weekend, and that he flew back to LA last night. Guess he got a cappuccino at Cafe Fanny (one of Alice W's restaurants)too.

I suspect that we will be seeing Jake in Berkeley a lot since he is on the board and the ambassador for Edible Schoolyard.

I do have to wonder if Austin was at an airport late Friday night if he was crazy enough to fly all the way to SF for a day or two and meet Jake while Jake was up there.

destiny said...

Well said PG about people putting their religious beliefs into action.

Jason said...

What hit me most about that "pit stop" at Barstow is that the headlines hit the tabloids big on Tuesday and it was almost like Jake was given time to provide some cover with the Rashida/Cafe Gratitude piece which was played up on Sunday night by JustJared, and given a 2 day lifecycle. Everyone knows old Jared is so far up everyone's ass in Hollywood that you almost get the feeling that he was on speed dial to push this nonstory...lame as it was. PEOPLE followed suit with the Rashida story on Monday. Then POP SUGAR photos hit the web on Tuesday, September 6. Wonder why POP SUGAR waited so long? You know the paparazzo told them when they got the shots and where they got them. They knew they were from September 1, yet held onto them for 5 days. Suspicious.

Special K said...

This latest from Ted

Which Film Hunk Is Crushing on a Gay Activist?

We love a juicy Blind Vice as much as the next gossip-monger.

Which is why we've been tres captivated with The National Enquirer's mysterious mention of a hunky film star who's been seriously (but secretly) crushing on out and proud actor and activist James Duke Mason.

Now we know the Enquirer isn't always a beacon of reliability, but we gotta wonder: There's no way it's one of our favorite stars, right? Could it be...

Jake Gyllenhaal, who's certainly considered hunky, what with his buffed up Prince of Persia muscles and boyishly charming smile? And while Jake's currently single, he's just recently been linked up with Anna Kendrick and Rashida Jones. There's no way he's burned through all of T-town's babes already, right?


Ted goes on to list Zac Efron, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner as possibilities.
While the consensus seems to be that it's Taylor, the one thing the latest does is put all of these actors who do have BI with Ted that related to them being gay together.

The second comment left was:
"coming out party
Mon, Sep 12, 2011,
5:44 AM

Way to out everyone left and right, Ted! lol "

Special K said...

^^Exactly Jason.

Methodical Muser said...

Then POP SUGAR photos hit the web on Tuesday, September 6. Wonder why POP SUGAR waited so long? You know the paparazzo told them when they got the shots and where they got them. They knew they were from September 1, yet held onto them for 5 days. Suspicious.

Bingo! That's one of the big questions, isn't it? And, not only does POP SUGAR hold onto the 35+ photos for five days, but they manufacture a whole story about it and allow Jake's PR machine time to go into action:

Jake Gyllenhaal hugged Anna Kendrick in close outside a Subway in California last night. Anna and Jake are currently filming End of Watch together, and perhaps their relationship is more than just a working one. Anna and Jake were joined by a few friends for a quick Labor Day trip to Vegas, and the crew stopped off for sandwiches on the way home.

As you suggest, POP SUGAR knew the photos were not from "last night" - it's as clear as day. LOL! They knew there was "no relationship" between the co-workers and most importantly, they knew when they bought the pictures, when and where they were taken. That would have been the first question asked. Never mind that the photos are clearly tagged with that information. How do you think Iheartjake knew how to caption that info on their website?

The lack of a watch and that survival bracelet are also critical clues that Jake and Anna were not filming in Barstow. If Jake was dressed like Taylor he would have been wearing those props too.

Methodical Muser said...

Ted's getting more brazen, isn't he?

destiny said...

I think gossip sites often play games with dates, I can remember TR saying that photos are often passed off as being on the weekend or a holiday when they weren't, to make it look like celebs are hey, just like us.

But interesting observation about the bracelet and watch. Food for thought for sure, although I still find it hard to believe Jake would wear a wedding ring out and about, too risky for someone so deep in.

budding actor said...

crushing on out and proud actor and activist James Duke Mason.

Isn't that nice of Ted to big up this kid who is barely an actor at all. Ted must have a soft spot for Mason's mother.