25 Facts About Mychal Judge

Mychal Judge was born Robert Emmett Judge on May 11,1933, in Brooklyn, New York, the son of immigrants from County Leitrim, Ireland, and the firstborn of a pair of fraternal twins.

Mychal Judge's twin sister Dympna was born two days later.

Mychal Judge transferred to St Joseph's Seraphic Seminary in Callicoon, New York, the minor seminary of the Holy Name province of the Order.

Mychal Judge later dropped 'Fallon' and changed 'Michael' to Mychal.

Mychal Judge professed his solemn vows as a full member of the Order in 1958.

Around 1971, Mychal Judge developed alcoholism, although he never showed obvious signs.

In 1992, Mychal Judge was appointed a chaplain to the New York City Fire Department.

Mychal Judge was well known in the city 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 society.

Mychal Judge worked with St Clare's Hospital, which opened the city's first AIDS ward, in order to start an active AIDS ministry.

Mychal Judge visited hospitals and AIDS patients and their families, presided over many funerals, and counseled other Catholics such as Brendan Fay and John McNeill.

On September 11,2001, upon learning that the World Trade Center had been hit by the first of two jetliners, Mychal Judge rushed to the site.

Mychal Judge prayed over bodies lying on the streets, then entered the lobby of the World Trade Center North Tower, where an emergency command post had been organized.

Mychal Judge was later taken from the fire station to the medical examiner.

Mychal Judge was designated as "Victim 0001" and thereby recognized as the first named victim of the attacks.

Mychal Judge's body was formally identified by NYPD Detective Steven McDonald, a long-time friend.

The New York Medical Examiner found that Mychal Judge died of "blunt force trauma to the head".

Mychal Judge developed a romantic relationship with a Filipino nurse named Al Alvarado in the last year of his life, which Mychal Judge documented in his diaries.

Dennis Lynch, a lawyer, wrote an article about Mychal Judge that appeared on the website catholic.

Mychal Judge was a long-term member of Dignity, a Catholic LGBT activist organization that advocates for change in the Catholic Church's teaching on homosexuality.

Mychal Judge then welcomed Dignity's AIDS ministry to the Church of St Francis of Assisi, which is under the control of the Franciscan friars, thereby partially circumventing the cardinal's ban of Dignity.

Mychal Judge was buried in the friars' plot at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Totowa, New Jersey.

Larry Kirwan, leader of the Irish-American band Black 47, wrote a tribute song entitled "Mychal" in honor of Judge that appeared in the band's 2004 album New York Town.

In 2014, Mychal Judge was inducted into the Legacy Walk, an outdoor public display which celebrates LGBT history and people.

In September 2021, Mychal Judge was nominated for sainthood in the Catholic Church.

The fact that Mychal Judge had a homosexual orientation is likely to be an impediment to beatification.