Is it time to re-evaluate Cardinal Egan?

New York Cardinal Edward Egan is not a very popular man. He inherited sexual-abuse fiascos in both Bridgeport and New York, and, being from New England, was incorrectly associated with Cardinal Law.

He was sent to Bridgeport (in the metropolitan of Hartford) shortly after being ordained an auxiliary bishop of New York. There Bishop, Walter William Curtis had shuffled accused priests around the diocese, resulting in the diocese facing tens of millions of dollars of lawsuits. The lawsuits continued throughout Egan's term. When Egan was appointed to head the archdiocese of New York, with these cases still unsettled, many New Yorkers reacted with outrage.

Worse still, while in Bridgeport, Egan had given a positive review to a man he knew to have been accused of sexual abuse. Eventually, Egan heard of evidece of other abuses by that priest, and had the priest removed.

* He has taken the most actions of any bishop in America to enforce orthodoxy, as he and his suffragans have removed "Catholic" status from several colleges. And Protestantizing "catholic lay" organizations have been removed from Catholic grounds.

* Indult masses are permitted more widely in his diocese than in any other diocese in America.

* Many hate him for fighting the lawsuits. It must be remembered that ALL of the abuse cases occured before his tenure. Also, these cases aren't simply seeking an apology and some money for psychotherapy; they are seeking millions of dollars per accusation. To permit anyone making a claim against the church to walk away with millions of dollars would quickly bankrupt the church, denying money to those justly accusing, or even forcing the church to abandon its charitable acts.

* Cardinal Egan crafted one of the toughest zero-tolerance policies in the nation, and convinced his suffragans to issue much tougher policies.

I am trying to write both sides of this issue, not assert that he is good or bad. Please notice that while the bulleted points are in his defense, the introducing paragraphs are all explaining the sources for the anger at him.

I should also note another issue that hit Free Republic about Egan: There was an oratory that had formerly been a parish in lower Manhattan, which he shut down. It was a site of many strong devotions, and its supporters insisted that it was succeeding in paying its own bills. On the other hand, any money given for that oratory was quite possibly money which otherwise would have been given to parishes; it was very easy to stay in the black, since it did not have the expenses of most parishes: a rectory, a school, neighborhood outreach and charities, etc. It had been a parish earlier, and was shut down for being very much in the red.

For those who aren't such insiders, I reconsidered and decided to explain some terms:

A suffragan is a bishop who has his own diocese, but who is suborndinate to the archbishop who is called his metropolitan. Thus, the bishop of the diocese of Rockville Center, which comprises most of Long Island, is a suffragan to the Archbishop of New York.

Unlike auxiliary bishops, a suffragan has full apostolic authority over his diocese. (Actually, since all bishops are by their ordination given apostolic authority, auxiliary bishops are given authority of "titular sees," comprising of non-believers.)

Egan is a bishop much in the mold of Cardinal Law. He likes the prestige and power of the job and is just as happy to hobnob with the Kennedys of the world as he is with actual Catholics.

There are much worse cardinals here in the US.

My main problem with Egan is that he made life very difficult for Fr. Pavone and the Priests for Life.

That he gave Fr Pavone a lot of trouble is a serious issue to me. What did he do to Fr Pavone?

(By the way, Cardinal Egan has about 2 years to go, unless the Pope makes an "O'Connor exception" for him.... which doesn't seem likely.)

What did he do to Fr Pavone?

In September 2001, Egan assigned him to a parish and told him to step down from Priests for Life. He claimed the priest shortage made it impossible for Pavone to continue in the same capacity. To be honest my wife followed the story much more closely than I did and she's not home now for me to ask the details. I believe Pavone appealed. Also, Pavone wanted to start a campaign targeting post-abortive women, but was told not to by Egan. As a priest of the diocese of NY, Pavone obeyed.

Pavone started his own order so he wouldn't have to answer to prelates like Egan.

To add to your comments:

A titular bishop is one who is empowered with the fullness of the apostolic ministry and is not entrusted with the direct care of a diocese. These men are assigned to a diocese that is no longer in existence owing to the tradition that only one man is given the authority of sheperd of a diocese. Titular bishops may be assigned as auxiliaries to a diocesan bishop (when the diocese is large) or as prelates with a particular ministerial task which requires episcopal ordination.

This is different than when a Cardinal of the Roman Church takes titular possesion of a church. In ancient times, Roman Churches were Roman homes or estates, the titles of which were entrusted to Roman clergy. This tradition continues when Cardinals are given the title of Roman churches upon their investiture.

From Code of Canon Law Annotated (Canon 376 cf) & The Church Visible

I also believe Cardinal Egan has had a mixed record. He was wise not getting involved with Billy Graham,who went on to buter-up the Clintons.But he did turn the very necessary Catholic New York from a very topical weekly newspaper into a useless monthly piece of outdated propaganda.

"* Indult masses are permitted more widely in his diocese than in any other diocese in America."

How many million Catholics and how many indult Masses and in what locations?

I believe John Rao, President of Una Voce America, and a professor at NYU, would beg to differ on Egan doing anything whatsoever to assist the indult movement.

Also, not only Fr. Pavone, but why did he remove Fr. McLucas's (Latin Mass magazine) faculties? Why did he remove Fr. Perricone's faculties and force him to seek refuge with another Bishop? Both are solid priests and are attached to offering only the Classical Roman rite of Mass.

If NY has more indults per population capita than any other, it has more to do with his predecessor than it does with him, I believe.

I am open to any evidence to the contrary.

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