Cardinal Egan, retired N.Y. archbishop, dies at 82

Cardinal Edward Egan, who headed the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York from 2000 to 2009, died Thursday after suffering a heart attack at his Manhattan residence. He was 82.

He was pronounced dead at NYU Langone Medical Center at 2:20 pm, the archdiocese announced.

"Thank God he had a peaceful death, passing away right after lunch today, 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," Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the current archbishop, said in a statement.

Egan succeeded Cardinal John O'Connor, a major figure among American Catholics. He was elevated to cardinal in May 2001, and retired in May 2009, a month after he was hospitalized and outfitted with a pacemaker.

Before Pope John Paul II named him New York archbishop, he served as bishop of Bridgeport, Conn., from 1988 to 2000.

The Bridgeport diocese was rocked by a sexual-abuse scandal involving priests. In 2002, he apologized in a letter read at Mass, saying, "If in hindsight we also discover that mistakes may have been made as regards prompt removal of priests and assistance to victims, I am deeply sorry."

In 2009, the the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled that records detailing sexual abuse allegations by priests in the Bridgeport diocese should be released

Three years later, Egan retracted the apology during a magazine interview, denying that sexual abuse occurred during his tenure.

"I never should have said that," he told Connecticut Magazine. "I don't think we did anything wrong."

As archbishop, Egan oversaw 413 parishes. On Sept. 11, 2001, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani summoned the cardinal, who spent the day anointing the dead and distributing rosaries to workers searching the smoldering rubble of the Twin Towers. He also presided over many funerals.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Egan "encouraged others to devote themselves to the greater good. His thoughtful and compassionate stewardship helped New Yorkers grieve and recover" from the terror attack.

"Cardinal Egan had a powerful and positive impact on our state and the world that will continue to be felt for years to come," the governor, who is Catholic, said in a statement.

Egan, who was born and raised in Oak Park, Ill., was an expert in church law who spoke French, Italian, Latin and Spanish. He was ordained a priest in Chicago in 1957.

The cardinal was a doctrinaire opponent of birth control, abortion and gay marriage. In a 2008 column in the diocese's newspaper, which featured a photo of a 20-week-old fetus, he equated abortion with the mass murders carried out by Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin.

Egan also assailed politicians who supported abortion rights.

He assailed former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, a pro-choice Republican, for receiving communion from now-retired Pope Benedict XVI during his papal visit in April 2008.

That summer, he denounced House Speak Nancy Peolsi, a pro-choice Catholic Democrat, for saying during a Meet the Press interview that no one knows "when life begins."

"Anyone who dares to defend that they may be legitimately killed because another human being 'chooses' to do so or for any other equally ridiculous reason should not be providing leadership in a civilized democracy worthy of the name," the cardinal said.

Just weeks before he retired, Egan made waves within the Catholic hierarchy by saying the church would eventually consider whether to allow priests to marry.

"I think that it's going to be discussed; it's a perfectly legitimate discussion," he told a radio station. "And I am not so sure it wouldn't be a good idea to decide on the basis of geography and culture not to make an across-the-board determination."