Advocate NL 9/11/26

Father Mychal Judge, the beloved Franciscan chaplain of the New York City Fire Department, was designated Victim No. 1 of the September 11, 2001, attacks.

He was not the first of the nearly 3,000 people killed that morning, Christopher Wiggins writes. His was the first body formally recorded by New York City’s medical examiner.

"Before most people knew Judge’s name, they knew his death," Christopher writes.

That's because Reuters photographer Shannon Stapleton captured a shot of five men, their faces and clothing coated in ash, carrying the body of the Rev. Judge through the ruins of the World Trade Center. The image would travel around the world and become known as the “modern Pietà,” after Michelangelo’s sculpture of Mary cradling the body of Jesus.

Twenty-five years later, that bureaucratic number and sacred-looking photograph still threaten to flatten Judge into a symbol, Christopher writes. Judge was also a recovering alcoholic, a tireless minister to people with HIV and AIDS, a friend to homeless New Yorkers, and a gay man who found room inside himself for an identity his church still struggled to hold.

Don't miss Christopher's wonderful profile here and the rest of our 9/11 coverage below.

Until next time,
Edgar Ramirez, Audience Editor

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