New York City Fire Department chaplain Father Mychal Judge was ministering to a fallen firefighter when the priest became 9/11 victim DM-01-00001, the first Disaster Manhattan casualty to be officially recorded that day. When the Franciscan got the call, he reportedly paused to comb and spray his thick, grey hair before heading out the door, a simple vanity for which he is fondly remembered. A campaign to beatify the friar is underway, though no official miracles have yet been linked to him. And even if he were found to have rained hellfire on Osama bin Laden himself, the campaign might meet some resistance from the Vatican owing to Father Mychal’s formerly low-profile homosexuality.
