Thursday, April 14, 2011

Mychal Judge Nominated for Congressional Gold Medal: How You Can Help



Some good news here (and an appeal for you to assist, if you're so moved): Franciscan priest Fr. Mychal Judge, who died in the 9/11 attacks after he refused to leave the North Tower building despite requests that the building be evacuated completely, has been nominated for a Congressional gold medal.  He was killed when the collapse of the South Tower sent debris into the other tower, striking him in the head.  Fr. Mychal was a chaplain to New York firefighters, and insisted on remaining in the building to minister to these and others who were wounded during the 9/11 attacks.


For information about the Congressional gold medal nomination and how you can assist by contacting your Congress persons, see the Mychal Judge website, to which Bilgrimage links in its list of recommended blogs.  Further information is also on the website of the Franciscan province to which Mychal Judge belonged.

It would certainly be wonderful to see this saintly and heroic priest (who also happened to be gay and honest about his sexual orientation) given this award, particularly because Catholic church officials have done little to recognize his holy life and heroic death.  To many Catholics, it has seemed that, as Catholic leaders have rushed to beatify John Paul II while ignoring Mychal Judge, one of the real saints of our period is being ignored--when serious questions about the man being beatified abound.

Thanks for considering this invitation to help nominate Fr. Mychal Judge for this much-deserved posthumous award.

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