Egan selected

By Patrick Markey

Pope John Paul II appointed Connecticut bishop Edward Egan as the new head of the New York archdiocese on Thursday, eight days after Cardinal John O’Connor died following a prolonged battle with brain cancer.

A canon lawyer who heeds closely to the pope’s line on controversial issues such as abortion and homosexuality, 68-year-old Egan appears well suited to slip into the position left vacant by O’Connor.

A physically large man, Egan brings with him a strong public presence and a skill in dealing with people, say those who know him. He also worked under O’Connor as an auxiliary bishop for a few years before his appointment as Bridgeport bishop a decade ago.

"My first reaction was to say, ‘Edward, get down on my knees and ask the Lord to lend you a hand," Egan said at a New York press conference on Thursday. Egan said he hoped he would manage to serve as well as his predecessors in his new post.

O’Connor was often seen as Pope John Paul’s right-hand man, an adherent to the church’s conservative doctrine who carried the papal torch in the United States. In more than five decades of religious service, Egan has also adhered tightly to church doctrine. Those who know the bishop say he is actively pro-life and has a conservative approach to church issues.

"I think he would come to New York as a talented administrator who works with people easily, and meets people easily. He’s an outgoing person, what you would call an extrovert, I suppose," said Msgr. Stanley Rousseau, pastor of St. Augustine in Bridgeport.

"In a lot of ways he’s like Cardinal O’Connor in his approach to life and the Church," Rousseau said.

Egan, who has also spent more than a decade in Rome, successfully reorganized Catholic schools in Connecticut. When he came to Bridgeport 10 years ago, he faced opposition to a controversial plan to strengthen the area’s Catholic grade schools by merging struggling schools with more successful ones.

"He has a passion for Catholic education; he brings a belief in it and he is willing to do things to make it stronger," said Jim Fitzpatrick, assistant vice president at the Jesuit college Fairfield University.

"He took a lot of criticism for his plan, but it seems to have worked well," Fitzpatrick said.

But Egan’s time in Connecticut was not been without controversy. The bishop has come under fire for his handling of a sexual abuse lawsuits filed against priests in Bridgeport. Most of the allegations pre-dated his time at the Connecticut post, but the bishop faced criticism that the church had helped cover up abuse.

Born in Oak Park, Ill., in 1932, Egan went on to study at a local seminary and then finished his studies in Rome at the Pontifical North American College in Vatican City.

He returned to the United States in 1958, where he took up the position of assistant chancellor for the archdiocese of Chicago.

Bishop Egan was consecrated in 1985 and later that year took over the position of auxiliary bishop and vicar for education for the archdiocese of New York.

After being appointed by the pope as bishop to the diocese of Bridgeport, he also worked on the region’s elementary schools and promoted priesthood by establishing the Saint John Fisher Seminary Residence for young men.