Cardinal Dolan Gratefully Recalls His Predecessor and Friend

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On the afternoon Cardinal Egan died, Cardinal Dolan shared some warm and candid reminiscences about his immediate predecessor as Archbishop of New York, calling him “generous with his wisdom” and “very supportive.”

Speaking with members of the media gathered near the sanctuary of St. Patrick’s Cathedral with a framed portrait of Cardinal Egan in the background, Cardinal Dolan said the two had become “good friends” in recent years.

Cardinal Egan had died a little more than two hours earlier March 5 just after eating lunch at the apartment above Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary Chapel on East 33rd Street in Manhattan, where he had lived in the nearly six years since his retirement as Archbishop of New York in April 2009.

Cardinal Dolan had just returned from praying over the cardinal’s body at NYU Langone Medical Center where emergency workers had brought Cardinal Egan. He was pronounced dead there at 2:20 p.m.

He recalled Cardinal Egan’s well-known gifts as a fund-raiser and an able administrator and also remarked on his “steadiness” in the face of whatever challenge or opportunity he was confronting.

“He knew what he wanted and how to get it done,” Cardinal Dolan said.

“That’s the kind of faith we need now,” he added.

“He was a very good pastor,” said Cardinal Dolan, noting with admiration Cardinal Egan’s ministry on 9/11 when he rushed to St. Vincent’s Hospital in Lower Manhattan, and also for months afterward as he offered a balm of faith and healing for a city and region left reeling in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks that day.

Cardinal Dolan also noted his predecessor’s passion for being with his people in visits he made to parish churches across the archdiocese most weekends. “He loved the parishes and loved being with people.”

The cardinal recalled “tough decisions” that his predecessor made to bring the archdiocese’s finances in line with its income, and in taking other steps, including a realignment of parishes that resulted in some closures and mergers.

“He was steady in his administration and sound in his pastoral judgment,” Cardinal Dolan noted.

On a personal level, Cardinal Dolan said Cardinal Egan played a role in his appointment as rector of Pontifical North American College in Rome in 1994 and was not shy in letting others know he had.

When he was named Archbishop of New York in February 2009, Cardinal Egan was the second person to call him with congratulations after the papal nuncio, Archbishop Pietro Sambi, who delivered the news of his appointment.

“He was supportive from the very beginning,” the cardinal said.

Even without precedent in New York for such an arrangement, the two soon forged a strong bond, with Cardinal Dolan saying that he did not hesitate to call Cardinal Egan when he needed advice. With his own experience as a guide, Cardinal Egan understood very well what the new archbishop was experiencing.

“He never offered advice unless I asked,” Cardinal Dolan said.

Cardinal Egan’s vast experience and knowledge of Rome and the workings of the Vatican, where he had spent many years, first as a student and professor at Pontifical North American College and then as a judge on the Roman Rota and professor of canon law at Pontifical Gregorian University, among other appointments, was helpful both in practical and pastoral ways.

Before Cardinal Dolan went to vote in the conclave that would elect Pope Francis in March 2013, he said Cardinal Egan, who had participated in the conclave that elected Pope Benedict XVI in 2005, was able to give him the benefit of his knowledge.

Looking back on his predecessor’s tenure, Cardinal Dolan said Cardinal Egan’s determined work and ministry left behind an archdiocese with “a stronger, sturdier foundation” when he was appointed to lead it six years ago.

“I’m sure glad he was my predecessor,” he said.

At the cathedral that day were several others Cardinal Egan had appointed including Msgr. Robert Ritchie, rector of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and Dr. Jennifer Pascual, director of music there. Also present was Msgr. Gregory Mustaciuolo, now the vicar general and chancellor of the archdiocese, who served as Cardinal Egan’s priest secretary when he was Archbishop of New York.

While Cardinal Egan’s health was generally good, his legs had become wobbly in recent months, necessitating use of a cane, Cardinal Dolan said. Noting the cardinal’s childhood bout with polio, Cardinal Dolan said, “Thanks be to God, he recovered from that.”

Cardinal Dolan said he was grateful to have had the opportunity to get to know Cardinal Egan well in recent years, so much that he could drawn on his wisdom and hear him tell stories and anecdotes firsthand.

“You could not have asked for better company,” he said.

As the archdiocese began to mourn the loss of Cardinal Egan, it did so with “a sense of hope and faith.”

“We are grateful for what he was,” Cardinal Dolan said.