Actually, at that time, the rumor had not yet been started. We watched the movie World Trade Center tonight, and SirKit went looking on the internet for info about the men who had survived. He found an article written about Fr. Judge, and how that story got started. Turns out, it was a homosexual activist who knew Fr. Judge, and who Fr. Judge was trying to call to repentance, who started that lie at Fr. Judge's funeral when talking to a reporter, or it was very soon after that. Now THAT'S despicable!
It was continually repeated in the press for weeks, and even a member of the NY Diocesan hierarchy said it in an interview. When told by the author of the article that I read, that Fr. Judge was NOT homosexual, because the author had known him for years, and the author asked why he would say that he was, the Diocesan official just said, "I read it in the media."
If you want to read the story about the hijacking of Fr. Judge's reputation, check HERE .