A documentary paying tribute to FDNY Chaplain Fr. Mychal Judge, the first confirmed victim of 9/11, will be screened at the Church of St Ignatius of Loyola in New York City on Monday evening to mark the 22nd anniversary of the attack on the World Trade Center.
"Remembering Mychal" recalls the Month's Mind of the 9/11 attacks, when friends and family gathered in New York on October 11, 2001, to remember the Irish American Franciscan friar.
The film will be screened at 7 pm on Monday, September 11, in Wallace Hall below the Church of St. Ignatius of Loyola at 980 Park Avenue in Manhattan, New York.
The son of Irish immigrants from Co Leitrim, Fr. Judge became the first confirmed fatality on 9/11. A photograph of his body being carried out of the North Tower by five people became one of the most famous photographs taken during the attacks.
The film, which was originally released in 2021, recalls how parishioners from New York and New Jersey gathered to celebrate the life of Fr. Judge in October 2001. The parishioners were joined by recovering alcoholics, firefighters, Franciscans, people with AIDS, Irish musicians, and the LGBTQ community for the Month's Mind.
"On this 22nd anniversary of 9/11, the film helps us remember our good friend Father Mychal Judge," the film's director Brendan Fay said ahead of Monday's screening.
"Wherever he ministered, from the streets of New York to the White House, compassion was his way. He had a heart as big as New York."
The film weaves archival footage and words of Fr Mychal in between stories of his years as a Franciscan parish priest, his outreach to grieving families of Flight 800, AIDS ministry advocacy for the LGBT community, and his dedication as chaplain to the New York City Fire Department. It also features testimonies from Irish actor and writer Malachy McCourt and retired firefighter Tommy Ryan among others.
"On 9/11, a day of death, terror, and profound grief, Mychal Judge is a face of compassion and hope for humanity," Fay said.
Monday's screening will be followed by a reception and conversation with Fay in addition to guests of the Franciscan and FDNY communities.
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