Are there any savvy Catholics out there? Virginia? Jim Garrity? Please add to this. Many folks are writing me about the prolonged delay of Chief Stack's Roman Catholic funeral and how cruel this was to the Stack family. Judie Cook suggested informing Pope Francis of this travesty of humane justice. Before posting, I read 8-10 articles about the Chief's passing and the family's plight. The World Trade Center, as a place of death, lies within the jurisdiction of the Archdiocese of New York. Calverton National Cemetery lies within the jurisdiction of the Catholic Diocese of Rockville Center since the 1950s, and prior to that the Diocese of Brooklyn. I kind of recall from 12 yrs of CCD and Catholic college, that the Church requires "relics" when approving someone for sainthood, but never heard this requirement for a funeral. Old St. Pat's Cathedral aka The Basilica of St. Patrick NYC, or the Fifth Avenue one...Read about such relics of past priests. Definition of "relic" as it pertains to Roman Catholics> http://www.catholic.com/encyclopedia/relics In 2001, I attended the funeral Mass of my friend's husband, who also died in the World Trade Center. It was the only time I attended a funeral w/o a casket; this was in New Jersey. My hunch is our military readers may have experienced this before. It may be more common that I know. Barb [email protected] -----Original Message----- From: mizscarlettny via <[email protected]> 17 June 2016 "Once A Hero, Always A Hero: FDNY Battalion Chief Lawrence T. Stack " On what would have been his 49th wedding anniversary, FDNY Battalion Chief Lawrence T. Stack was finally honored today with a requiem Mass at Saints Philip and James Roman Catholic Church (Suffolk Co., Long Island) followed by a full military service at Calverton National Cemetery. http://www.firehero.org/fallen-firefighter/lawrence-t-stack/ Chief Stack perished in the North Tower collapse after Muslim terrorists attacked the NYC World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. He was last seen rescuing a man in that tower. Since his body was never recovered, a Catholic funeral had to be postponed. Then, just this year, the family recovered two vials of Chief Stack's blood that he'd long ago donated to the New York Blood Bank. These qualified Stack for a proper Catholic funeral. After serving in the U.S. Navy, including a tour in Viet Nam, Stack served thirty-three years with FDNY. FDNY has become synonymous with the Stack family history. Not only did Chief Stack's father and brother serve and retire from NYFD, but both of his sons are active firefighters. Chief Lawrence Stack is survived by his wife, Theresa, and their two sons, FDNY Lt. Michael Stack, 46 and Firefighter Brian Stack, 44, Barb [email protected] @BAMS;6.18.2016 ====NY-Irish Mailing List==== Don't forget to check out the NY-Irish mailing list website. Also, check/add your NY-Irish surnames on the Surname Registry: http://www.connorsgenealogy.com/NYIrishList/ ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message