A September 11th Hijacking

6/26/2002 - 19:30 PM PST

Advertisment

A September 11th Hijacking

By Dennis Lynch*

Victims of the September 11th Hijackers were not just people. One victim of the September 11th hijackers was the truth about a Catholic Priest. This is the story 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. Father Mike ministered to students at Sienna College. Father Mike ministered to New York City Firefighters. And, Father Mike ministered to the homeless, the sick dying of AIDS, to homosexuals and heterosexuals and especially to anyone needing help. Father Mike saw Christ in everyone without exception and without objection.

Yet, as 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 Catholic Church. It didn�t matter if what they said about Father Mike wasn�t true. All that matters is 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.

It was in planning for one of these trips to Northern Ireland with Father Mike that 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 desired 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. That was like many people I knew.

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 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 from this trip being planned 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 ...

1 | 2 Next Page

Rate This Article

Was this helpful to you? Very Helpful Somewhat Helpful Not Helpful at All

Would you be interested in more articles like this? Yes, I am Interested No, I am not Interested

Rate Article

1 - 1 of 1 Comments

John M. Kelley
3 years ago
Mr. Lynch�s denial that Fr. Judge was homosexual rests on the fact that Judge never mentioned this to Lynch or some others.

But the evidence is now conclusive that Fr. Mychal Judge did, in fact, self-identify as gay, though chaste and celibate. The evidence includes Judge's own handwritten journal entries, recently published in Michael Daly's biography of him.

Since Lynch published his article in 2002, many close friends of Judge, including former FDNY Commissioner Tom Von Essen, Fr. Brian Carroll, Fr. John McNeill, and Fr. Bernard Lynch, have repeatedly confirmed that Mychal identified himself to them as a gay man.

Fr. Brendan O'Rourke said, "Mychal had come to terms with being gay, and disagreed with official church teaching about gay orientation and gay relationships." (p. 182: Ford, Michael: Father Mychal Judge: An Authentic American Hero. Paulist Press).

(Note: I use 'gay' and 'homosexual' interchangeably here to describe orientation only; by all accounts he was faithful to his priestly vows).

Then Ford's biography quoted Judge himself many times publicly acknowledging his orientation. For example, "Look at who we are as gay people at this moment in history, being a gift for the church, being agents of change in both church and society." (p.184: Ford).

Michael Daly's 2008 biography decisively settles the question. Daly published excerpts of Judge's personal journals in which he wrote in detail of the struggles and joys of accepting himself as a gay man. (Daly, Michael: The Book of Mychal: the Surprising Life & Heroic Death of Fr. Mychal Judge: 2008).

For example, Judge wrote, "I thought of my gay self and how the people I meet never get to know me fully � (yet) I feel no guilt, none whatsoever today -- I feel on the train Home. I am at peace finally. This is what You want me to do, Lord ... You, You alone, brought me here. I have nothing to fear today. Thank You, thank You, Lord !" (pp. 86, 301-302: Daly).

It's significant that in the face of all this evidence, Mr. Lynch never pressed his claim after 2002. Nor have Mychal's Franciscan brothers or family ever denied that Mychal self-identified as a gay man. Indeed, two Franciscan publications have acknowledged the same --
St. Anthony's Messenger
http://www.americancatholic.org/Messenger/Dec2002/books.asp#F9
and AmericanCatholic.org
http://www.americancatholic.org/eNews/FriarJack/fj112102.asp#F4.

It's understandable why Judge didn't come out to Mr. Lynch and some others with deep visceral reactions. He picked and chose when and to whom to come out. But in the end it's clear that Fr. Mychal Judge was selectively, if not generally, open about his gay orientation and self-identity.

Mychal's love and ministry touched everyone he encountered, not only gay people. He wasn't so much a "homosexual saint" as he was "a saint who happened to be homosexual" among many, many other things. But to fully appreciate how God worked through Mychal, we must honestly acknowledge this aspect of his life, as he did.

Comments submitted must be civil, remain on-topic and not violate any laws including copyright. We reserve the right to delete any comments which are abusive, inappropriate or not constructive to the discussion.

Though we invite robust discussion, we reserve the right to not publish any comment which denigrates the human person, undermines marriage and the family, or advocates for positions which openly oppose the teaching of the Catholic Church.

This is a supervised forum and the Editors of Catholic Online retain the right to direct it.

We also reserve the right to block any commenter for repeated violations. Your email address is required to post, but it will not be published on the site.

We ask that you NOT post your comment more than once. Catholic Online is growing and our ability to review all comments sometimes results in a delay in their publication.

Name *

Email *

Comment *

Send me important information from Catholic Online and it's partners. See Sample

Post Comment