NEW YORK -- Of nearly 3,000 people who lost their lives at the World Trade Center, the one who has been most widely honored in the year since the event and reached near legendary status is a Franciscan friar.

Father Mychal F. Judge, a chaplain of the New York Fire Department, rushed to the scene as soon as he got news of the attack and went with the firefighters into the lobby of Tower 1. He was designated No. 1 among the victims.

Father John M. Felice, Father Judge's provincial, told Catholic News Service Aug. 27 that the deceased chaplain gave people a hero "when we needed one" and "caught people's imagination."

Many victims were found only days later, and many apparently were consumed by flames or vaporized. But Father Judge's funeral, televised and attended by throngs that overflowed onto the street, gave the public a focus for its grief in the immediate aftermath of the terrorist attack.

Father Judge had become a chaplain a decade earlier after the death of another member of his community, Father Julian Deeken, who was serving in that role. Now, Franciscan Father Christopher Keenan has taken Father Judge's place; he was officially installed in November.

In an interview Aug. 28 at St. Francis of Assisi Church in Manhattan, where the province is based, Father Keenan said Rudolph W. Giuliani, mayor at the time, and his fire commissioner wanted to continue the Franciscan tradition.

For Father Keenan, it was more than just following another Franciscan, but taking the place of the priest "who got me into the business."

He was a young man looking forward to a life as a truck driver when Father Judge, then at St. Joseph's Church in East Rutherford, N.J., encountered him in a "mentoring moment" that compelled him to think he should turn in a different direction.

Years later, after ordination, Father Keenan was sent to St. Joseph's for his first assignment, and Father Judge was back there as coordinator of a team ministry.

Father Keenan said Father Judge was "always there for you," and Father Felice said he was "so loved because he made himself available to you."

Father Keenan, a tall man of heavy build, said he knew he had big sandals to fill. New York has named the street that runs between St. Francis of Assisi Church and a fire station Father Mychal F. Judge Street. Writers have been gathering material for books on Father Judge.

On what would have been his 69th birthday, May 11, the Knights of Columbus arranged for a memorial Mass at St. James of the Marches Church in Totowa, N.J., and then visited his grave at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Totowa.

But Father Keenan said he felt Father Judge would reassure him and say, "Don't be worried about filling anyone's sandals; just show up and be yourself, a day at a time."

The firefighters miss Father Judge deeply, know he gave his life for them and will never forget him, Father Keenan said.

At the same time, he said, they have welcomed Father Keenan fully into their lives and declared, "You're ours."