Remembering the FDNY chaplain who raced to the twin towers on 9/11 to pray
NEW YORK -- FDNY Chaplain Mychal Judge raced to the twin towers on Sept. 11, 2001 from his midtown Engine Company One / Ladder Company 24. As the chaos unfolded, he prayed for the people trapped, for the rescuers and for humanity. His legacy of hope and service live on a quarter century after his death when the south tower collapsed.
"Today we will bury Mychal Judge," Father Michael Duffy said in a homily delivered after the chaplain's death. "We will bury his body, but not his spirit."
Judge, described as a close friend of Duffy and the first official victim of the 9/11 terror attacks, raced to the twin towers as the chaos unfolded.
"I pray for him every day," Duffy said. "And I think whenever there's excitement around or a fire truck or an ambulance or somebody need consolation, I think, 'Mychael Judge would be right there with them.'"
A French film crew happened to be profiling the FDNY that day and captured Father Judge's final moments inside the lobby of the north tower. He was praying for people jumping from the fire and smoke on the upper floors when the south tower collapsed, sending forth a tsunami of concrete and steel.
Duffy recalled learning of Judge's death while at his soup kitchen in Philadelphia.
"I had no doubt that when the plane hit the building, that he would be there," Duffy said.
An image of Judge's body being carried from the rubble became one of the enduring symbols of the attacks.
"That kind of is an icon that represents 2,000 people," Duffy said. "And the helplessness of goodness being overcome by evil and all those 2,000 people who died and how they were loved by their friends and families."
He went on to say, "I think that that picture symbolized it, that brought it concretely, that's why we feel empty."
The two men first met in the 1970s as Franciscan priests assigned to the same parish in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Duffy said Judge became a mentor without officially being a mentor.
Duffy also remembered Judge's humility.
"He had no airs about him, like he was better or standoffish," Duffy said. "So if you want to share what's really going on in your life, you want to gravitate to the most receptive person and that was him."
Born in Brooklyn, Judge shined shoes near the Church of St. Francis of Assisi on 31st Street before joining the Franciscan order. He was appointed FDNY chaplain in 1992 and ministered to people from all walks of life.
"There's another part of him that I don't know if too many people know that about him, he loved to be where the action was," Duffy said.
Four days after Judge's death, Duffy traveled to New York to deliver the homily at his funeral, as Judge had wanted. Thousands gathered at the church on 31st Street.
Even in death, Duffy said Judge left behind a message of service and compassion.
"We will bury his hands, but not his good works," said Duffy, repeating the lines from his homily at Judge's funeral. "We come to bury his heart, but not his love. Never his love."
Months after 9/11, Father Judge's gear and helmet were recovered. They are now on display at the New York City Fire Museum, alongside the FDNY memorial.