NEW YORK
USA Today
Michael Winter, USA TODAY March 5, 2015
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 was outfitted with a pacemaker. …
The Bridgeport diocese was rocked by a sexual-abuse scandal involving priests. In 2002, he apologized in a 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 he 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.”
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