How 'Gay' Activists Smeared Father Mychal Judge

Culture and Family ^ | June 28, 2002 | Dennis Lynch

[NYer]

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.

[lentulusgracchus]

Okay, thanks for trying to check it out, and I don't know either .... but if someone warns us that a poisoned cup is being passed around, maybe it'd be prudent to wait for an unopened Coke.

ontos-on: Isn't that Greek for "being of the being"? What do you mean it to signify? Just curious.

[Torie]

I'm not going to get into semantics with you. I stated what I thought. I linked an article. There are many more. And I think highly of the man. End of story.

[lentulusgracchus]

It isn't semantics, it's a question of epistemology and justice. Are you going to let gay activists and their buddies in the media lie to you and steal an exemplary man to be an icon for their cause post mortem? So to do would be a shameful thing. Doesn't that matter? If I claimed a commercial or political endorsement from someone who'd just died, what would that make me?

If you want to continue to believe the stories because it pleases you, that's something different. And yes, that would be the end of the subject.

I just don't like liars and thieves. Sorry if you feel I'm scratching a personal itch at public expense.

[ontos-on]

"And so are you, Torie, if you do not think that it matters."

You are too cavalier in dismissing me. Do you pretend not to see the conditional in my statement about you: IF YOU DO NOT THINK IT MATTERS. The issue is not whether YOU think the man was a homosexual or engaged in such acts. The issue is not whether YOU care about it either. The original poster was posting about the claims shouted from the rooftop about this priest, to the effect that he WAS "openly gay" i.e. that he did engage in homosexual acts even though he was a priest. The "unfortunate" thing was that campaign to charaterize him as a"gay priest".

That is where the discussion of his sexuality began. That was character assination and impugning the integrity of the church, catholics, this priest, and most slyly, the firemen. You should not try to paint this as both sides are bad situation. That is where you are detestable if you insist on doing that.

Do not foul the issue by complainng about a discussion of the priest's sexuality. Only one side did that. The other is correcting it by saying it was false. There is no room for you to inject your desire to be morally equivalent.

I am going to speak the truth and say your evident wish to cloud this issue is, indeed, detestable. Calling something as you see it does not relieve you of the responsibility of trying to be responsible and getting it right. Your distillation of my original posting into pablum about " a discussion about sexuality" and your trying to make yourself appear as the victim of mindless "name-calling" only amounts to another indulgence of your moral blindness.

[ontos-on]

Yes, it is Greek for the beingly being. It was a phrase Plato uses to signify the really real. I am not, obviously, ascribing it to myself. It's aspirational. That is not an entirely satisfactory reason to use it as a name for the internet, but it goes back to my first days on the internet and frustration at my lack of ability to come up with a name that was not already being used. It was the result of an attempt to think of something that would not likely already be in use. It stuck. Congratulations, you are the first, after many years, to nail it.

[Torie]

That is a very well written and cogent post. But I stand on my prior briefs, and give you the last word. It is now up to the public square to pass judgment.

[Selara]

I never thought he was a homosexual. I am familiar with the gay activists tactics. They lie all the time...big and small. Their biggest lie is telling themselves that they are the norm, and heterosexuals are the abnorms.

All those firemen are not likely to be such good friends with a priest who is a homosexual.

Thanks for the good article on Father Mychal.

[Tribune7]

A leftist-make-you-sick bump.

[Tribune7]

A boycott-the-dailies (especially USA Today and the New York Times) bump.

[lentulusgracchus]

I read the article about the Christian Coalition's petition in Miami (Dade County), and it's hard to tell who's lying, and whether they're being railroaded or just policed up.

The statement by the gay-rights organization makes it sound more like they're innocent, but why would the county prosecutor spend so much time on an investigation if they were following the law?

I don't know what to think about that one. If the gay-rights crowd has "gone black" and is now using Ruby Ridge tactics on their opponents in friendly jurisdictions, then that is only a taste of what's going to be happening in a few years. One almost hopes that the Christian Coalition people were in the wrong.

[NYer]

Thanks for the good article on Father Mychal.

Thank you for posting. Your comments make good sense and are truly valued. It's so unfortunate that a group would stoop this low to defame the dead.

Last week, I heard a priest discussing the incident that took place at St. Patrick's Cathedral, when John Cardinal O'Connor was still alive. The group ActUp, came into the cathedral during mass, and tossed condoms at parishioners. Over the next few months, they held protests outside the cathedral, blowing whistles and antagonizing communicants as they entered or left.

Well, it seems that their founder (his name eludes me right now) died this past May. Prior to his death, though, he called for a catholic priest and confessed his sins. In the end, he was buried from a catholic church. Such irony.

[lentulusgracchus]

I ran Torie's posted links, which lead to White Crane, Angelfire, and Gully.com, all gay sites. Brendan Fay is prominent in the stories on each, except for the brief Angelfire posting, which is part of a larger page dedicated to gay people who were killed in the World Trade Center attacks, or who died of injuries some time later.

If Brendan Fay is a worm in the apple, he has a lot to answer for. Fr. Mychal is posted up on Angelfire as "openly gay", which would not have been correct if he were celibate (see my post above). I parsed the White Crane article closely, which was written by an activist (he actually buttonholed Cardinal Edward Egan at Fr. Mychal's funeral and challenged the Cardinal in his beliefs -- the act of a committed ideologue and zealot), and nowhere does he name anyone who was Fr. Mychal's putative boyfriend or partner or who would confirm that yes, Fr. Mychal was actively gay. The assertion is there; the corroboration is not. Just the author of the White Crane article, and the ubiquitous Brendan Fay.

I've read it all, and I still don't know what to think; but it sure sounds to me like Brendan Fay is a wrong number deluxe.

[agrace]

I missed it the first time around and very much appreciate you posting it this time.

[lentulusgracchus]

Aha, well, I didn't nail it, I thought ontos was the genitive singular of the present participle -- but it's obviously an omega in the ending instead, since you say it's an adverb.

Thanks for the explanation. Plato, eh? Hmmm, the rent seems to be going up -- LOL!

[lentulusgracchus]

He never disgraced his position, and brought much comfort and joy to all those with whom he was associated.

I agree with you about that. I would hope that that will be what he is remembered for.

[Salvation]

Here you go -- From most recent postings back to when he died.

They are all on the News/Activism Forum (before the change in format on FR)

How 'Gay' Activists Smeared Father Mychal Judge

September 11th Hijacking: How "Gay" Activists Smeared Father Mychal Judge

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

Mychal Judge Law Angers Conservatives

Firefighter Chaplain Mychal Judge killed in WTC was Gay. Does it Matter?

[RnMomof7]

Thank you for the article. As I watched the CNN special today and saw his picture I was saddened that the question of his faithfulness to his vows was questioned...

[Salvation]

Oops, I guess the first reference was THIS thread. Sorry, NYer, I thought you had posted it in the Religion Forum.

[TaRaRaBoomDeAyGoreLostToday!]

BUMP!

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.