Cardinal Edward Egan Passes

Former archbishop of New York, Cardinal Edward Egan passed away today of a cardiac arrest shortly after having lunch. A spokes person for the Archdiocese said Cardinal Egan had displayed no indications that he wasn’t feeling well. He had survived polio as a child, which affected his health as an adult, and he also used a pacemaker. He was 82 years old.

In 2000, Egan was chosen by Pope John Paul II for the difficult job of succeeding larger-than-life Cardinal John O'Connor, who was a major figure not only in the city, but in the country. From him, Egan inherited an annual deficit of about $20 million. Egan was forced to make tough decisions to cut spending — including laying off staff — and said he wiped out the shortfall within two years.

On Sept. 11, then Mayor Giuliani called Egan for help, and the cardinal spent the day anointing the dead, distributing rosaries to workers as they searched, mostly in vain, for survivors. Egan later presided over funerals for the victims, sometimes three a day. He retired in 2009.

“I am saddened to tell you that our beloved Cardinal Edward Egan, the Archbishop of New York from 2000-2009, has gone home to the Lord,” Cardinal Timothy Dolan said in a statement. Egan died after lunch, “with the prayers and sacraments of his loyal priest secretary, Father Douglas Crawford, in his residence at the Chapel of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary.”

Dolan thanked “God for his life, especially his generous and faithful priesthood.”