A 9/11 Hijacking: How 'Gay' Activists Smeared Father Mychal Judge

Editorial:
A September 11th Hijacking: How 'Gay' Activists Smeared Father Mychal Judge
Close Friend: 'He Was a Celibate Catholic Priest and Nothing More.'
By Dennis Lynch

Victims of the September 11 hijackers were not just people. One victim of the September 11 terrorists was the truth about a Catholic priest. This is the story of how homosexual activists hijacked the truth about Father Mychal Judge.

The Father Mike We Knew
By now, nearly everyone in America knows the story of Father Mike. He was born May 11, 1933, and ordained as a Franciscan priest on February 25, 1961. He died September 11, 2001, administering last rites of the Catholic faith to fallen firefighters as the World Trade Center Towers collapsed. Before his tragic death, Father Mike ministered to families in parishes throughout the metropolitan New York area, to students at Sienna College, and to New York City firefighters. And Father Mike ministered to the homeless, the sick and dying of AIDS, to homosexuals, heterosexuals and especially to anyone needing help. Father Mike saw Christ in everyone without exception and without objection.

Yet, as is typical with activists, the truth about someone never stood in their way to advance their agenda. This was true with the homosexual activists who saw in Father Mike's heroic death a chance to attack the Roman Catholic Church. It didn't matter if what they said about Father Mike wasn't true. All that mattered was that a heroic, celibate, faithful Catholic priest could become a homosexual icon. This is how it happened.

The Father Mike I Knew
I knew Father Mike for about one decade before his death. Father Mike was very close to the Steven and Patti Ann McDonald family. Father Mike was present at the Hospital after Police Officer Steven McDonald was shot and paralyzed in 1987. Father Mike prayed with Officer McDonald and his family and was present when Officer McDonald, although completely paralyzed, forgave the person who shot him. The McDonald family and Father Mike shared a special love of Ireland. I was privileged to help Father Mike and Officer McDonald travel to Northern Ireland spreading Jesus' message of reconciliation through forgiveness in that troubled part of the world.

During the planning for one of these trips to Northern Ireland, a homosexual activist named Brendan Fay contacted me. After a very successful first trip to Northern Ireland where Officer McDonald and Father Mike preached Jesus' message of reconciliation through forgiveness, the second trip was being planned amid much publicity. Father Mike told me that Brendan Fay, who was born in Ireland, really wanted to become part of our Project Reconciliation Team. Father Mike told me that Brendan Fay was someone he was trying to help bring closer to Christ, although Brendan had a history of being a troublemaker.

The Homosexual Activist
I also knew Brendan Fay as the person who attacked the Catholic Church by trying to have homosexuals march as a recognized unit in the New York City St. Patrick's Day Parade. Now, we all know that homosexuals and heterosexuals have marched in the St. Patrick's Day Parade since it began. Yet, homosexual activists didn't just want that equal right to march. Homosexual activists like Brendan Fay wanted recognition and approval of their conduct in a Catholic event by being accepted for their sins. Brendan Fay was the person everyone in New York City saw on television and who was mentioned elsewhere in the media. Brendan Fay had an activist's mission to force Irish-Catholics to accept in their Parade not love of the sinner, but love of the sin.

I met with Brendan Fay and Father Mike for lunch. Brendan Fay told me how much he wanted to help plan and participate in our trip to Northern Ireland. Brendan Fay told me of many contacts he had in Ireland and how his participation could help make the trip even more successful. I sensed that Brendan was not being truthful, but just a troublemaker as Father Mike mentioned. I also sensed that all Brendan Fay wanted was a headline or a story about him or his homosexual agenda through this trip to Northern Ireland. Brendan Fay wanted trouble, not reconciliation.

Nevertheless, I agreed to have Brendan join the planning and even the trip - on one condition. That condition was that the trip would only be about Police Officer Steven McDonald and his effort to spread Jesus' message of reconciliation through forgiveness in Northern Ireland. I told Brendan this meant no names are ever mentioned in referencing the trip except Police Officer Steven McDonald and Father Mike. Brendan asked me, "Does that mean I can't do television interviews?" I told Brendan clearly, "Absolutely not. This is a story about Steven McDonald and his trip. This is not about you or me or any agenda." As a result, Brendan never followed through on the planning or the trip to Northern Ireland. He had no interest in the message of reconciliation. If the story wasn't about Brendan Fay, Brendan was not interested.

Father Mike's Death
The next time I met Brendan Fay was three years later at Father Mike's funeral mass, at the Franciscan friary in Manhattan, which was packed with mourners. Everyone I saw was solemn and sad - everyone, that is, except Brendan Fay. Brendan was smiling and strangely happy. I greeted him before Mass started and watched him carry on almost joyfully on a day when tears were on the faces of everyone else. I didn't know why Brendan was acting in that strange, almost demonic, way, but I would soon find out.

Prior to Father Mike's death, everyone who knew him for any length of time would never describe him as a homosexual. In fact, never has even one homosexual activist ever provided evidence that Father Mike was "gay." Yet, in newspapers immediately after the funeral mass, Brendan Fay was quoted saying that Father Mike was a homosexual. Fay arranged a media event where many people spoke of Father Mike's concern for the homosexual community and claimed Father Mike was "gay." This was news to me, and I knew Father Mike for nearly a decade.

The Media Lies About Father Mike
After the first series of newspapers stories reported that Father Mike was a homosexual, suddenly politicians were standing up in Congress lamenting the death of "Father Mike, the gay priest." Concerned that Father Mike was being used by homosexual activists, I began to contact many people who knew him for as long or longer than I did. I wanted the truth about Father Mike to be published. Not one of these longtime friends every heard or saw anything that Father Mike did that would indicate he was homosexual. I personally spent weeks at a time with Father Mike where he and I spoke about many personal matters. Not once was there even a suggestion that Father Mike was "gay." He was a celibate Catholic priest and nothing more.

As time passed, Brendan Fay began to organize events claming Father Mike to be "Hero, Priest and Gay." The media began to refer to Father Mike as being not just "gay," but an "openly gay" priest. None of this was true. I wrote a letter to Gannett Newspapers about one such reference to Father Mike. Gannett responded by citing law that you can't defame a dead person. I wrote back to say that I wasn't bringing a defamation claim; I only wanted the truth about Father Mike to be published. I received no further response. The New York Times also wrote an article alleging that Father Mike was a homosexual. I wrote to the Times requesting evidence, since many, many people did not believe Father Mike to be "gay." I received no response from the Times.

In fact, when one newspaper wrote an article proclaiming that Father Mike was homosexual and the newspaper was challenged about the story, the editor's response was shocking. The editor wrote that it really didn't matter if Father Mike was a homosexual or not. Homosexuals are a disadvantaged group, the editor said, and if the story helped them with their self-esteem, then Father Mike would be happy. In other words, the truth about Father Mike being a faithful Catholic priest didn't matter in our Politically Correct world.

As more time passed after Father Mike's death, homosexual activists embellished their story even more. During "Gay Pride Week" in the New York City area, one newspaper published the falsehood that Father Mike had been a "leader" in the homosexual "GLBT movement" (gay, lesbian, bisexual and transsexual). The lies about Father Mike continued to grow in the Politically Correct media. Sadly, even a member of the Catholic hierarchy in New York commented in the media that Father Mike was "a gay Priest." When questioned later about this comment, the priest admitted he only knew what he had "read in the media" about Father Mike.

The Truth About Father Mike
The truth is that Father Mychal F. Judge, O.F.M., was a wonderful Catholic priest. Father Mike saw Christ in everyone. He ministered to everyone with a smile, a prayer and the love of Jesus Christ in his heart. Father Mike was tireless in living a life as a Priest modeled after St. Francis of Assisi. Although homosexual activists have hijacked this truth, I know that, from heaven, Father Mike would want you to know the truth about him. He would also want you to pray for those who bear false witness. Most of all, Father Mike would care not that you remember him, but that you remember and live the Prayer of St. Francis.

Dennis Lynch is General Counsel to the Judge McDonald Foundation, 44 Route 304, Nanuet, New York 10954. He can be reached at deallaw@aol.com, or by calling 845-353-3500.

An unmarried, beautiful girl in the fish market became pregnant. Her parents were furious. To protect the real father, the girl blamed a local monk known for his purity and simplicity.

When the monk was told of the accusatiions, he said, "Is that so?"

When he was furiously condemned by townspeople, who had formerly looked up to him, and admired him, he said, "Is that so?"

When the girls parents brought the baby to him, and demanded that he care for the baby, he took the baby and said, "Is that so?" He cared for the baby, feeding it, cleaning it, and holding it.

After a year, the girl confessed that the monk was not the father, the father was a boy who worked in a nearby market. The boy acknowledged his paternity.

The parents went to the monk and begged his forgiveness, crying. They asked for the child back.

The monk gave the child back, saying, "Is that so?"

In my effort to find a FR thread from September 2001 (which I haven't found, yet) I came across this page which has a letter from someone who knew Fr. Judge from the Flight 800 incident. The letter follows (emphasis mine):

This is a message I sent to our TWA Flight 800 Family Association regarding Father Mychael Judge.
Amongst the dead in the World Trade Center is at least one person with whom we in the TWA Flight 800 family group are well acquainted, Father Mike Judge, the New York City Fire Department chaplain. Mayor Giuliani reported last night that Father Judge was in one of the buildings yesterday when it collapsed. Bob Edwards on NPR this morning stated that Father Judge was confirmed dead. CNN lists him this morning as among the dead.
I met Father Judge the first day I got to NYC in 1996, after TWA 800; he was at the Ramada Hotel with the families. He was a Franciscan friar, brown robe, sandals and all. A peculiar sight for a country boy from Alabama. He has been at every TWA family event since and became a friend to many of us. He was always a comfort, as well as an inspiration. Father Judge was very down to earth, very personable, interested in each of us, interested in our stories and interested in our lives. He was very much a pastor in every regard. By all accounts, he was a beloved figure in the New York City Fire Department and reached out to victims of many tragedies in that area, not just TWA 800, as well as to the fire fighters themselves. He was in the tower yesterday ministering to the rescuers, to the wounded and giving last rites to the dead when the building fell.
I saw him on July 17th this year. He participated in the TWA 800 memorial service at the beach. I have a St. Francis prayer on my desk which he sent me after the 1998 TWA 800 memorial service.
Never before have I been guilty of sending out sappy, maudlin e-mails. But, I think that today it might be appropriate to send you the Prayer of Saint Francis, which Father Judge sent to me:
O, Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace; where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy.
O, Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console; to be understood, as to understand; to be loved, as to love: For it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning, that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. AMEN.
May his soul, and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.
To all the wives, sons and daughter who lost a husband in the tragedy of 11 September '01: I hurt and feel the pain of deep sorrow with you. I also salute your husband or father as a true American hero. My most ardent prayers are with you that God's presence will give you strength and comfort. Be assured that his life was not given in vain, but will be honored and remembered for demonstrating to future generations of all God fearing persons that the spirit of America and sharing will always remain strong.
"Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends." John 15:13
We enter into this career for one reason only: love and its byproducts are pride and fraternity. We are full of sorrow over the loss of our brothers and sisters in this horrendous act and at the same time, we are proud of the actions of brothers and sisters in selfless efforts. Our prayers, thoughts and wishes are with our fallen brothers and sisters and their families, their departments and comrades. We ask that God lift up his continence upon you and give you rest. We pray for strength and endurance for friends and families; discernment and wisdom for our leaders.
"To laugh often and love much; to win the respect of intelligent persons and the affection of children, to earn the approbation of honest critics; to appreciate beauty; to give of one's self, to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to have played and laughed with enthusiasm and sung with exultation; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived--that is to have succeeded." Ralph Waldo Emerson
My brothers and sisters, you have truly succeeded. God Bless.
Michael E Ayers,
Captain Tiburon Fire Protection District, Tiburon, CA

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