(295) Many Catholic Priests and Knights of Columbus Among First Responders on 9/11

AMDG

This photo records the scene moments after one of the two terrorist captured planes crashed into one of the two 110 story towers of the World Trade Center about 9 am on a clear sunny Tuesday morning, September 11 as summer was drawing to a close.  The terrorists actually believed that as martyrs for their cause, they would go straight to heaven and have multiple virgins at their disposal.  My family of six went to the top of one of the towers a year earlier and had a magnificent view of the city, the Bay, and the Statue of Liberty.  Our nine year old daughter, Stephanie actually got lost on the large observation deck.  Probably, everyone over the age of ten at the time can recall where they were on that fateful day.  I arrived at the University of Rio Grande and the staff was watching the events on television.  The students were so afraid of a full scale attack that we had to cancel classes that day.

    The fire departments of New York City, including the boroughs of Manhattan, Bronx, Queens, and Brooklyn immediately responded to rescue as many of the people trapped in the twin towers as they could, despite blinding and suffocating smoke, probably in the hundreds.  It was horrific.  In desperation a number of people jumped out of windows to their deaths before the flames could consume them.  Of the 9,000 or so in each tower a total of about 2,150 people perished in the disaster.  Most on the floors below the impacts were able to escape, thanks in great part to the first responders.  Those in the second tower had a better chance during the sixteen minutes before the second plane hit.

The first responders included not only fire fighters and medical personnel, but also Catholic priests, who counseled and gave absolution.  Many of the first responders belonged to the Knights of Columbus, who followed their ideals of charity and patriotism.  They served with heroism and at least 45 of them sacrificed their very lives in serving.

    Not many know that the Church was right there, helping people of all faiths.  Let us read the account of brother knight, Msgr. Thomas Machalski, from his interview by Knightline and Columbia Magazine.  He was actively involved.  Born in the Queens Borough, Msgr. Machalski was ordained for the Diocese of Brooklyn in 1985 and now serves as pastor of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Bayside, where he is a member of Ridgewood Council 1814. 

United States flag is posted in the rubble of the World Trade Center at Ground Zero on Sept. 13, 2001.  As during the Cuban Missile in 1962, there was a sudden and substantial increase in church attendance all over the Country.  People were scared and prayed.  Sadly, that return to God did not last.  A monument now stands at the site to honor the over three thousand people who died there.  It can happen again; we must be vigilant.

In 2001, then-Father Machalski was among the priests who ministered to first responders at ground zero in the days after the attack on the World Trade Center.

“Shortly after the attacks, a call went out from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to the Archdiocese of New York and the Diocese of Brooklyn.  They wanted to make sure there were two Catholic priests at ground zero at all times.  So there was never a moment, from the very beginning until the last day of cleanup, that there were not two Catholic priests on duty, 24/7.”

“About 400 of us priests volunteered, and we took six-hour shifts. During the first of four shifts I took — I always had the 12-6 a.m. shift — I was standing right on that smoldering pile that you see in photos and videos, as they were literally pulling buckets filled with pieces of people from that rubble. They would take them into a makeshift morgue, where we would have a small prayer service and bless the body parts, and then go back onto the pile again.

“We were there, really, to provide emotional and spiritual support to the police officers, the firefighters and those who volunteered. They would say things like, ‘We know that you don’t have an answer to this, Father. Nobody does. But we just know God is here when we see you.’  They saw the collar, and that was a sign that God was there with them.”  

“I think our presence also gave a great deal of solace to people who lost family members — to know that if their loved ones’ remains were found, there was a priest who prayed over and blessed them."

    “When I went home and thought about it later, it would bother me that such evil could exist in the world and be perpetrated by one human being against another. But Christ’s example of redemptive suffering allowed me to make sense of what had happened and minister better, I think, to those who were left behind.”

“On Sept. 21, the [New York] Mets played their first game since the attacks, and I had a ticket to the game. It was against Atlanta, our biggest rival, and we were losing in the eighth inning.  But then [Hall of Fame catcher and lifelong Catholic] Mike Piazza got up, and he whacked a home run like you wouldn’t believe. Once he hit that ball, I knew it was gone.”

“That place just — I’m getting emotional just thinking about it — it just exploded. And we won that game. I still look at that moment and think that was God saying, ‘You guys need this’ — not the Mets, but the people of New York.”  Brother knight Msgr. Machalski would go on to become the New York Mets’ Catholic chaplain since 2007.  Read more about Msgr. Machalski’s life and work in this May 2024 Columbia feature on Knights who serve as Major League Baseball chaplains.

Three brother knights who are Catholic Major League Baseball Chaplains.  From left to right are Msgr. Thomas Machalski of the New York Mets, who is described in this article, followed by Fr. Burke Masters of the Chicago Cubs and Fr. Pedro Rivera of the San Diego Padres.

Watch the video produced by the Knights of Columbus, “Service and Sacrifice: Remembering 9/11”at 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Isd4pUNRGK0 or search for that title at www.youtube.com.   It gives a glimpse of what the first responders went through.  This short film commemorates the heroic work of first responders and priests as well as the K of C Life Insurance Field Agents’ efforts to bring financial assistance to grieving families of First Responders who lost their lives.  The Knights of Columbus raised $1.5 million for the Heroes Fund to help many of the families of over 400 fallen first responders….police, firefighters, medical personnel, etc. regardless of religious affiliation.  At least 45 of the fallen first responders were knights.  Surely, some of the other 2000 victims were also knights.

Having breathed so much toxic fumes and smoke, many of the surviving first responders suffered from chronic ailments for years…..respiratory, cancer, etc. 

Fr. Mychal Judge, a 68 year old Franciscan friar and chaplain of the New York City Fire Department, accompanied his men and was killed when the south tower collapsed. He was the first certified fatality of the attacks. Other priests also put their lives at risk.

It should be mentioned that one of the large financial companies that had many offices in the World Trade Center took care of the families of the personnel it lost in the disaster. 

Upon announcing the annual World Day of Prayer for Peace at the Supreme Convention in Dallas in 2004 and calling people of all faiths to annually observe September 11 as a day of prayer for worldwide peace, former Supreme Knight Carl Anderson made the following statement: "TERRORISM AND THE TERRIBLE TRAGEDY OF SEPTEMBER 11, 2001, PRODUCE MANY EMOTIONS, RANGING FROM ANGER TO PROFOUND SORROW. BUT AS WE RECALL THE LOSSES OF THAT AWFUL DAY AND HONOR THOSE WHO DIED, WE SHOULD ALSO REMEMBER THAT PEACE AND UNDERSTANDING, NOT REVENGE AND RETRIBUTION, MUST BE OUR ULTIMATE GOAL. WE CAN BEST ACHIEVE THAT GOAL BY RAISING OUR VOICES TO GOD, REMINDING HIM THAT WE SHARE HIS DEEP AND ABIDING DESIRE FOR PEACE ON EARTH, AND ASKING HIS DIVINE GUIDANCE AND HELP."