New 9/11 Memorial Unveiled at Church of St. Francis of Assisi

Exactly one month away from the 25th anniversary of 9/11, the Church of St. Francis of Assisi unveiled and consecrated a newly designed memorial alcove dedicated to the victims of that at first bright and sunny, then ineffably dark and tragic morning. That August 11, 2026, was, like September 11, 2001, a Tuesday was an apt coincidence.

The 1 p.m. ceremony was presided over by Father Brian Jordan, Pastor and Labor Priest of the church at 135 West 31st Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues. The block is co-named Father Mychal Judge Street, honoring its beloved pastor–known to many simply as “Father Mike”–who was killed, aged 68, in the North Tower at Ground Zero on 9/11.

Close to 200 people were in attendance, including [speakers] New York State Attorney General Letitia James; FDNY Fire Commissioner Lilian Bonsignore; retired FDNY First Deputy Commissioner Joseph Pfeifer; NYPD Inspector Robert Gault of Patrol Borough Manhattan South (a former Commanding Officer of the 10th Precinct and also an Emerald Society piper); Gary LaBarbera, President of New York State Building and Construction Trades Council; and others.

Of special note was the presence of retired FDNY firefighter Dennis Burke, now an artist in Sedona, Arizona, whose cast bronze sculpture titled “Brotherhood 9/11” is a prominent part of the new memorial.

Other components of the alcove, which were blessed by Father Jordan to conclude the ceremony include spalted maple Tau Cross from Friar Furniture and Crafts of Cincinnati, OH; a San Damiano Cross cut into a World Trade Center I-Beam by an under Ground Zero welder; Father Mychal Judge’s FDNY Chaplain’s dress helmet; and a tumble of twisted brown metal before which stands a plaque reading: “Steel from the ruins of the World Trade Center–entrusted to the Church of Saint Francis of Assisi as a memorial to those who lost their lives on September 11th, 2001, including Father Mychal Judge, OFM, New York City Fire Department Chaplain, and parishioner Carol Laplante, a member of the Secular Franciscan Order.”

A gold-plated rose that previously adorned this last sculpture was stolen in November 2024 by a troubled 21-year-old man named Deikel Alcantara, who was seen taking the rose inside the church and caught on a surveillance camera walking east on West 31st Street. After the story hit the press, Alcantara was turned into cops by his father and charged with grand larceny. “This was not only a robbery, as far as I’m concerned, it’s an act of desecration,” said Father Jordan at the time. “Had he asked for help, I would help him.” The rose has never been recovered.

In March 2002, the church was among the first parishes in to have a 9/11 memorial. The Roman Catholic parish, which is run by the Order of the Franciscans, earned this distinction in an especially hard way, following the life and death of Father Mychal Judge: St. of Francis Assisi pastor, FDNY Chaplain and, in the annals of 9/11 accounting, Victim 0001–meaning Father Judge was the first identified 9/11 victim issued a death certificate by the New York City Office of the Medical Examiner.

The first FDNY casualty was actually firefighter Danny Suhr, from Engine Company 216 in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, who at around 9:30 a.m. was struck by a female jumper from the South Tower just as he and his unit was preparing to enter the same building. His colleagues’ efforts to save Suhr’s life, which included leaving the scene to transport him to Bellevue Hospital, most likely saved their own lives when the South Tower collapsed at 9:58 a.m.

Father Judge, who rushed to the World Trade Center soon after the North Tower was struck, was in the company of then Battalion 1 Chief Joseph Pfeifer in the North Tower lobby when debris from the South Tower struck and killed him. Pfeifer’s 2021 book, “Ordinary Heroes: A Memoir of 9/11,” was a best-seller though to hear Pfeifer humbly speak of that day, and of Father Mike, one would not think he himself was anyone special. He is, a fact evinced even before that terrible morning when Pfeifer was being shadowed by two French brothers, documentary filmmakers Jules and Gédéon Naudet, who who woke up that morning believing they were making a movie about probationary firefighters.

A Reuters photograph by Shannon Stapleton of five dust covered men carrying Judge’s limp body out of the wreckage became one of the indelible images of 9/11. Those men were FDNY firefighters Christian Waugh of Ladder Co. 5 and Zachary Vause of Engine Co. 21.; NYPD Lieutenant William Cosgrove; Kevin Allen, of the Office of Emergency Management; and John Maguire, then a civilian Goldman Sachs employee but also a West Point graduate and former Army officer.

He Just Did Nothing Normally, No

Father Mike’s body was first brought to St. Peter’s Church, a couple blocks away from the WTC at Church and Barclay Streets, then laid out at the Engine1/Ladder 24 stationhouse directly across the street from St. Francis of Assisi, in whose quarters he also lived. Judge’s subsequent funeral at Assisi on Saturday Sept. 15, was attended by over 3,000 people, including former President Bill Clinton and New York Senator Hillary Clinton, with Cardinal Edward Egan presiding, Franciscan brother Father Michael Duffy of the St. Francis Inn in Philadelphia—as chosen by Judge himself— delivering the warm and humor-filled homily.

“Because so much has been written about him, I’m sure you know his history. He was a New Yorker through and through. As you know, he was born in Brooklyn... He was born, well, some of you may not know this, he was a twin. Dympna is his twin... He was born May 11th, she was born May 13th. [Laughter] Even in birth, Mychal had to have a story. [Laughter] He just did nothing normally, no. [Laughter]”

Duffy’s complete homily, which can be read online, is a bracing reminder of how inspiring Father Mike was—when Gound Zero was still smoldering and the search for potential survivors urgent— and remains, thus the urge to commemorate Judge and the tragedies of 9/11 while also maintaining Father Mike’s buoyant spirit.

The story of firefighter turned sculptor Dennis Burke is one such story. Sedona met Father Mike back in 1992, when he was hospitalized following injuries he suffered in a four-alarm Bronx blaze. After retiring because of disability, Burke moved to Arizona, where he involved himself with the local fire district and also became an apprentice to a sculptor, John Soderbergh.

Brotherhood 9/11

Still trim and youthful at 63, Burke wore his old FDNY dress blue uniform from Engine 279-Tower Ladder 131, the Red Hook “Happy Hookers” of Brooklyn. Though soft-spoken, Burke’s artist statement says what needs to be said:

“After a night of prayer and contemplation following the horrific events of 9/11, a vision came to me of our beloved Fire Department Chaplain, Father Mychal Judge comforting our Firefighter brothers who would perish and consoling survivors left to face the unthinkable.

‘Brotherhood 9/11’ embodies my conception of this vision with the fallen Firefighter reaching out, the rescuer’s anguish, their sense of being embraced by a divine presence and Fr. Mychal’s gentle touch of guiding grace.

My vision of ‘Brotherhood 9/11’ has now culminated with the creation of this bronze sculpture through what I feel is nothing short of divine inspiration to honor Father Mychal Judge and the 343 members of the New York City Fire Department who made the ultimate sacrifice on September 11, 2001.”

The climax of the after ceremony came with a procession of celebrants, led by pipers, to the alcove where Father Jordan would unveil and bless the new memorial. Up in the balcony, adjacent the organ loft, hangs a banner, “25th Anniversary of 9/11 – ‘Never Forget.’”

Dousing his holy water sprinkler, Father Jordan’s blessing concluded:

“May this living memorial remind us that love is stronger than hate, courage is greater than fear, mercy is stronger than hatred, and hope can never be extinguished. We bless this memorial and dedicate it on this 25th anniversary in the name of the Father! [splash] And of the Son! [splash] and” –here Father Jordan re-doused his sprinkler— “of the Holy Spirit! Amen.”