Edward Egan

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.^{[citation needed]} 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.^{[citation needed]} 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.