Edward Michael Egan (April 2, 1932 – March 5, 2015) was an American Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Bridgeport from 1988 to 2000 and as Archbishop of New York from 2000 to 2009.

[2] After graduating from high school in 1951, he entered St. Mary of the Lake Seminary in Mundelein, Illinois, where he obtained a Bachelor of Philosophy degree.

After returning to Chicago, he served as associate pastor of Holy Name Cathedral Parish, assistant chancellor for the archdiocese, and priest-secretary to Cardinal Albert Meyer.

[1] During this time, Egan also taught evening classes for potential Catholic converts and served as a chaplain at Wesley Memorial Hospital in Chicago.

[5] 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] 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.

Besides private initiatives, each year on the Feast of St. Joseph (March 19), he offered a mass for prospective high school and college men.

[9] 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.

Also in 2002, John Paul II named Egan and five other cardinals 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.

[citation needed] 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.

In December 2006, Egan began hosting a weekly program on The Catholic Channel of Sirius Satellite Radio in which he discussed a variety of topics, including events in the archdiocese and issues in the church.

In January 2009, Egan publicly condemned controversial statements made by Richard Williamson, an excommunicated Catholic bishop, about the reality of the Holocaust.

[15] On April 2, 2007, Egan offered his letter of resignation as archbishop of New York to Pope Benedict XVI, having reached the mandatory retirement age of 75.

In an article published next to a photo of a fetus in the womb, Egan compared tolerating abortions to the reasoning used by Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin to commit mass murders.

Egan believed that Catholic politicians who support abortion rights for women should be forbidden communion on grounds of public scandal.

In April 2008, after newspapers had published photographs of Giuliani receiving communion at a mass in St. Patrick's Cathedral offered by Pope Benedict XVI, Egan issued a public statement: The Catholic Church clearly teaches that abortion is a grave offense against the will of God.

I deeply regret that Mr. Giuliani received the Eucharist during the Papal visit here in New York, and I will be seeking a meeting with him to insist that he abide by our understanding.

Egan said the specter of legal same-sex marriage would have a devastating effect on traditional values already eroded by a crude pop culture, the New York Daily News reported.

[25] The Connecticut Supreme Court ruled in May 2009 that records detailing allegations of sexual abuse by priests in the Diocese of Bridgeport should be released.

[26] In April 2002, in a letter read out at mass, Egan apologized 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.

[32] In October 2019, former Connecticut Superior Court Judge Robert Holzberg released the results of his investigation, commissioned by Bishop Frank Caggiano, into the diocese's handling of accusations of sexual abuse by its priests.

"[34]In a radio interview given on March 10, 2009, at the end of his tenure as archbishop, Egan stated that clerical celibacy in the Latin Church could be open to discussion.