Saint Of 9/11
Glenn Holston
USA | 2006 | 90mins | Beta | Colour

In an enduring photograph of September 11, a team of rescue workers carry a Franciscan priest’s body from the World Trade Center. The world came to know Father Mychal Judge, chaplain of the New York Fire Department, in death as a symbol of courage and sacrifice.

Compassionate champion of the needy and forgotten, a beloved Fire Department chaplain, rousing Irish-American balladeer and iconoclast, Father Judge was a humble parish priest who wrestled with his own private demons while touching others in powerful and miraculous ways.

Throughout his career as a friar, he lived a life of witness, action and love. He provided hope, warmth, compassion, and acceptance. Mychal Judge knew the pain of loss and suffering. He struggled with alcoholism and was an outspoken AA advocate. Through his own vulnerability, imperfection and fragile humanity, he was able to reach people in their pain, shame and fragility. Father Judge was a gay man who loved his priestly work.

Saint of 9/11 weaves interviews with friends, colleagues, congregants and archival footage with Mychal’s words. Mychal’s life is portrayed as a spiritual adventure and an honest embrace of life, where alcoholism and sexuality were acknowledged. Inspired by his life, the documentary embraces Mychal’s full humanity.