Edward Michael Egan (April 2, 1932 – March 5, 2015) was an American Catholic prelate who served as bishop of Bridgeport in Connecticut from 1988 to 2000 and as archbishop of New York from 2000 to 2009. He was elevated to the cardinalate in 2001.
The third of four children, Edward Egan was born on April 2, 1932, in Oak Park, Illinois, the son of Thomas J. and Genevieve (née Costello) Egan. His father was a sales manager and his mother was a homemaker and former teacher; his parents' families were from County Mayo and County Clare, Ireland. In 1943, Egan and his older brother contracted polio, causing them to miss two years of school while convalescing at home.
Egan attended Archbishop Quigley Preparatory Seminary in Chicago, Illinois, where he was elected student body president and editor of the student newspaper and yearbook. After graduating from high school in 1951, he entered St. Mary of the Lake Seminary in Mundelein, Illinois, obtaining a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy. Egan was then sent to the Pontifical North American College in Rome, taking his academic courses in theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University.
Egan was ordained to the priesthood at the Basilica of Santi Giovanni e Paolo al Celio in Rome by Archbishop Martin O'Connor on December 15, 1957, for the Archdiocese of Chicago.
Egan was awarded a Licentiate of Sacred Theology from the Gregorian University in 1958. After returning to Chicago, the archdiocese assigned Egan as associate pastor of Holy Name Cathedral Parish, assistant chancellor for the archdiocese, and priest-secretary to Cardinal Albert Meyer. During this time, Egan also taught evening classes for potential Catholic converts and served as a chaplain at Wesley Memorial Hospital in Chicago.
In 1960, Egan returned to the Gregorian University in Rome to pursue his doctorate. During his studies, he became assistant vice-rector and repetitor of moral theology and canon law at the North American College. Egan received his doctorate in canon law summa cum laude in 1964. Back in Chicago, Egan was appointed priest-secretary to Cardinal John Cody. As his secretary, he "saw Cardinal Cody take the heat for good causes" such as the American civil rights movement and racial desegregation.
Egan was later appointed secretary of the archdiocesan Commissions on Ecumenism and Human Relations, sitting on several interfaith organizations and establishing dialogue with Jews and Protestants. From 1969 to 1971, he served as co-chancellor for the archdiocese. Egan returned to Rome in 1971 when Pope Paul VI named him an auditor of the Sacred Roman Rota.
While serving on the Roman Rota, Egan also served as a professor of canon law at the Gregorian University and of civil and criminal procedure at the Studio Rotale. Egan served as a commissioner of the Congregation for the Sacraments and Divine Worship and a consultor of the Congregation for the Clergy as well. In 1982, Egan was chosen to be one of the six canonists who reviewed the new Code of Canon Law with Pope John Paul II before its promulgation in 1983.
On April 1, 1985, John Paul II appointed Egan as an auxiliary bishop of New York and titular bishop of Allegheny. He received his episcopal consecration at the Basilica of Saints John and Paul on May 22, 1985, by Cardinal Bernardin Gantin, with Archbishop John O'Connor and Bishop John Keating serving as co-consecrators. He selected as his episcopal motto: "In the Holiness of the Truth" Ephesians 4:24. As an auxiliary bishop, Egan served as vicar for education.
On November 5, 1988, John Paul II appointed Egan as the third bishop of Bridgeport. He was installed on December 14, 1988.
During his tenure, Egan oversaw the reorganization of Catholic schools. He also raised $45 million for diocesan schools through a fundraising campaign, "Faith in the Future." The diocesan Catholic Charities under his tenure became the largest private social service agency in Fairfield County, Connecticut. To support the 12 Hispanic parishes in the diocese, he brought Spanish-speaking priests to Bridgeport from Colombia. Egan also established a home for retired priests and a school for children with special needs.
Within the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), Egan served as chair of the board of governors of the Pontifical North American College and of the Committee on Science and Human Values. He was also a member of the Committee on Canonical Affairs, the Committee on Education, the Committee on National Collections, and the Committee on Nominations, and served two terms on the USCCB administrative board.
John Paul II appointed Egan as archbishop of New York on May 11, 2000, a week after Archbishop O'Connor's death. Egan was installed on June 19, 2000, with soprano Renée Fleming performing at the ceremony.
On becoming archbishop, Egan prioritized the encouragement of vocations to the priesthood. Besides private initiatives, each year on the Feast of St. Joseph (March 19th), he offered a mass for prospective high school and college men. Egan appointed two priests as vocation directors to aid him in promoting the priesthood, although they were unable to reverse the declining trend.
Egan was elevated to the cardinalate by John Paul II at the consistory of February 21, 2001, becoming the cardinal-priest of the Basilica of Ss. Ioannis et Pauli in Rome As cardinal, one of Egan's main concerns was the archdiocesan seminary in Yonkers, New York. In March 2001, he announced the restructuring of the seminary faculty. A Staten Island pastor, Reverend Peter Finn, was chosen as seminary rector. The minor seminary, then located in Riverdale, Bronx, was moved to the campus of the major seminary.
Egan was a prominent influence in New York City after the September 11, 2001, attacks at the World Trade Center in Manhattan. According to an article in Catholic New York:"The cardinal responded to the disaster – ministering to the injured and anointing the dead at St. Vincent's Hospital and at Ground Zero itself. He planned a center for victims' families at the New School and an interfaith service at Yankee Stadium. Egan also offered masses at St. Patrick's Cathedral in the immediate aftermath of the attacks and funerals there and around the archdiocese for months."In 2002, the Institución del Mérito Humanitario in Barcelona, Spain, awarded Egan the "Gran Cruz al Mérito Humanitario". Also in 2002, John Paul II named Egan to the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signature, the church's highest court of canon law. For retired priests, Egan established the John Cardinal O'Connor residence in 2003 at the previous site of the minor seminary in Riverdale.
In 2003, Egan was accused of concealing the names of priests who had been accused of child molestation, but found not guilty by the church. His spokesman argued that the innocent should be protected, while groups such as Voice of the Faithful criticized the process as being out of the public view. Egan participated in the 2005 papal conclave in Rome that selected Pope Benedict XVI. In 2006, Egan began hosting a weekly program on The Catholic Channel of Sirius Satellite Radio. He discussed events in the archdiocese and issues in the church. The channel also broadcast his Sunday mass from the cathedral.
Egan in January 2007 announced the closure of ten under-utilized parishes and the merger of 11 other parishes. He stated that this was, "based on the migration of Catholics in the inner-city to the outer boroughs". He also announced the establishment of five new parishes; three in Orange County. New York, one in Staten Island and one in Dutchess County, New York. Building projects were also approved for nine parishes. The closures caused some discontent among the affected parishes.