NEW YORK CITY — Former New York Cardinal Edward Egan died on Thursday afternoon, according to the Archdiocese of New York. He was 82.
Cardinal Egan, who presided over New York Archdiocese for nine years, suddenly slumped over while he was eating lunch at his residence and was rushed to NYU Langone Medical Center, where he died because of a cardiac arrest at 2:20 p.m., current New York Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan said.
Egan retired in 2009 but was still involved in the work of the Archdiocese and the Vatican, officials said.
"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," Dolan wrote in a statement.
Although he was stricken with polio as a child, he was relatively in good health at the time of his passing, Cardinal Dolan said at a press conference at St. Patrick's Cathedral on Thursday.
An Oak Park, Illinois native, Egan was ordained to the priesthood in 1957 in Vatican City before heading back to serve in Chicago and then New York. He was consecrated Bishop in 1985 was appointed Archbishop of New York in 2000 and made a cardinal a year later.
"Cardinal Egan was especially active in his advocacy for immigration reform and we continue honor his calls for humane and just immigration policies to this day," City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito wrote in a statement.
Members of the Catholic community who were gathered at St. Patrick's Cathedral on Thursday mourned the loss of their "strong" leader.
"It's a sad thing," said Rocaiñilda Haddad, who was visiting the church from Brazil with her granddaughter. "It is a big loss for the religion."
Cardinal Egan also made headlines in 2002 when he published a letter in which he acknowledged that he might have mishandled allegations of sexual abuses by Bridgeport (Connecticut) priests but later said that he handled the cases exactly as they should have been.
Funeral arrangements are pending.