Priest who founded Flight 93 Memorial Chapel in western Pa. dies at 69 after cancer battle
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A priest who left the Roman Catholic church and founded a nondenominational chapel to honor the victims of hijacked United Airlines Flight 93 has died.
The Rev. Alphonse Mascherino died Friday after a long battle with cancer. Archbishop Ramzi Musallam of the Catholic Church of the East says Mascherino died at a Somerset hospice.
Mascherino, who was 69, bought a former Lutheran church and converted it into the Flight 93 Memorial Chapel to honor 40 passengers and crew killed when the airliner crashed during the Sept. 11 terror attacks.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Then Altoona-Johnstown Bishop Joseph Adamec said Mascherino's work was commendable but not compatible with his Catholic priesthood.
Mascherino went on to become a bishop in the North American Old Roman Catholic Church.
Miller Funeral Home and Crematory in Somerset is handling Mascherino's arrangements.