Times Square ceremony honours Father Duffy of WWI fame

NEW YORK – The Roman Catholic archbishop of New York has joined New York National Guard leaders in Times Square for a ceremony commemorating the centennial of the battlefield service of a storied Army chaplain.

Father Francis Duffy was a Canadian-born priest who served as chaplain of the 69th Infantry Regiment in World War I. In France in 1918, he was known for ministering to American soldiers in the trenches.

Duffy, who died on June 26, 1932, remains the most highly decorated chaplain in U.S. Army history.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan joined the National Guard’s chief chaplain and officials from the National WWI Centennial on Wednesday morning at the Father Duffy statue in Times Square to lay a memorial wreath.

Father Duffy’s statue was dedicated on Times Square’s north end in 1937.