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As a young man studying to be a priest in the 1980s, Robert Ciolek was flattered when his brilliant, charismatic bishop in Metuchen, N.J., Theodore E. McCarrick, told him he was a shining star, cut out to study in Rome and rise high in the church. Bishop McCarrick began inviting him on overnight trips, sometimes alone and sometimes with other young men training to be priests. There, the bishop would often assign Mr. Ciolek to share his room, which had only one bed. The two men would sometimes say night prayers together, before Bishop McCarrick would make a request —...

Was the Korean Attack a Mistake? Washington fears Kim Jong-Il ordered the attack that has the Koreas on the brink. But North Korea says it was an accident, according to America's unlikeliest diplomat. Is it possible that a self-described “goomba” who owns a northern New Jersey barbeque joint has the answers to the latest crisis with North Korea—a showdown over a sunken South Korean warship that may be the most serious threat to peace since the Korean War? American diplomats and F.B.I. agents acknowledge that Robert “Bobby” Egan, owner of Cubby’s BBQ Restaurant in Hackensack, New Jersey, has managed over...

Edward Cardinal Egan, archbishop of New York from 2000 to 2009, has died at age 82, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York said Wednesday.

Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty remains little-known beyond his home state, but he has begun to line up wealthy donors, a critical constituency. Even as he draws low single-digit support in early polls, Mr. Pawlenty has amassed a substantial roster of well-connected GOP donors and fund-raisers in his quest for the Republican presidential nomination. Their preference for Mr. Pawlenty could pose a challenge to his GOP rival, Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who has used experience as a 2008 candidate and background as a private-equity investor to build what is widely regarded as the largest network of high-impact fund-raisers...

Cops booted an unruly group of city teachers union officials from a posh Albany eatery after they caused a ruckus over their dinner tab. Paul Egan, the union's political and legislative director, set off the fracas - claiming the quail he was served, and finished, wasn't large enough. Egan and about two dozen other members of the United Federation of Teachers spread over three tables at the swank bistro Marché inside 74 State, a boutique hotel down the block from the state Capitol. And with Egan apparently worked into a froth over the size of his quail in the $40...

An Irish Islamic website which argues for the introduction of "Sharia" law in Ireland. Sharia refers to the "way" Muslims should live or the "path" they must follow. Sharia is derived from the sacred text of Islam (the Koran) and traditions gathered from the life of the Islamic prophet Mohammed. Sharia deals with many aspects of life, including crime, politics, economics, banking, business, contracts, family, sexuality, hygiene, and social issues. MPAC spokesman Liam Egan, who goes by the Muslim name Mujaahid, said the independent website was not affiliated with the Irish Council of Imams or any other Muslim organization here...

"Let the healthcare bill allow for one sterilization for everyone of these whacked out females who are so intent on killing babies . . . Then . . . if these Femme-a-Nazis want to have a child, they can rent one." Reader comment posted on my Nov. 25 column Incendiary e-mails are still rolling in on Wednesday's column. It proves you can't write about abortion, women and Catholic bishops and not get heavy heat. Add universal health care to the conversation? Kaboom! It's OK. I've had great role models in taking heat. Jack Egan, for one. In the winter of...

Richard Egan, the billionaire co-founder of EMC Corp. and the former U.S. ambassador to Ireland, died today of a self-inflicted shotgun wound to the head, police and other sources confirmed. Egan, 73, a resident of the Four Seasons condominiums on Boylston Street, had been battling terminal cancer, sources said. He had a visiting nurse attending to him while he underwent treatments. Both the nurse and his wife were in the condominium this afternoon when Egan died at home, sources told the Herald.

To a certain type of New Yorker,every Dumpster is a potential treasure chest,right up there with thrift stores and stoop sales. But if the scavenger gods offer only a finite number of prizes, Julie Finch might have claimed one of them. Last month Ms. Finch stood on her toes to peer into the Dumpster outside her building on West 26th Street and found a blue wooden harp distinguished mainly by caked layers of grime and dust and a snarl of broken strings. “It was this old thing with wires going in all directions,” she said.“It didn’t look like anything anybody...

ov. Sarah Palin on Sunday appointed former Mayor Dennis Egan to represent Juneau in the Alaska Senate, after the community has been without representation for more than half of the 2009 legislative session. Senate Democrats met in a secret meeting an hour before Palin’s announcement and “unanimously and enthusiastically” confirmed Egan to the position. The appointment also won quick praise from Reps. Beth Kerttula and Cathy Munoz, Mayor Bruce Botelho and Juneau Democratic Party Leaders. Palin praised Senate Democrats, who under state law must approve her appointment, for working with her to name former Sen. Kim Elton’s replacement. Earlier Palin...

NEW YORK – Archbishop-designate Timothy Dolan on Tuesday urged New Yorkers to give up fear and embrace faith in the first of two services installing him as the city's Roman Catholic leader — the most prominent post in the American church.In his sermon, the former Milwaukee archbishop said Jesus does not force open people's hearts, but waits for them to accept him. He built the homily around a central moment in the ceremony, when he knocked on the doors of St. Patrick's Cathedral before entering."That's the ultimate question," Dolan said to the 1,500 well-wishers in the pews. "Will we open...

Cardinal Edward Egan New York City, N.Y., Apr 7, 2009 / 09:52 am (CNA).- New York’s Archbishop, Cardinal Edward E. Egan, was hospitalized on Saturday with stomach pains, causing his surgeon to postpone an operation to install a pacemaker at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Manhattan.Egan, 77, began to experience stomach pains on Saturday night and was promptly driven to St. Vincent’s to undergo testing.The pacemaker, which according to the Archdiocese of New York was supposed to be implanted today, will be rescheduled until the Cardinal regains some strength. The pacemaker operation is not deemed to be “an emergency.”The medical...

ALBANY, N.Y. (CNS) | The possibility the Catholic Church will allow married priests shouldn’t be dismissed, New York Cardinal Edward M. Egan said March 10 during a radio interview.“It’s a perfectly legitimate discussion,” he said during a talk radio program in Albany hosted by Fred Dicker. “I think it has to be looked at.”Cardinal Egan was in the state capital as part of a legislative lobbying visit. He also discussed various New York legislative issues as well as the broader picture of the church’s public policy on topics such as same–sex marriage and access to abortion for minors.Cardinal Egan’s...

A pull-quote from Milwaukee is especially fitting for this Monday morning: “I was at the vespers when he was installed as [arch]bishop. And there’s a part where the bishop knocks on the door. Most do it timidly. Tap, tap. Not him — ‘Bang! Bang!’ It echoed through the cathedral and let everyone know that Timothy Dolan was there.”And now, he's here. In the Capital of the World. And thank God. This morning, many of us in no shortage of places are celebrating -- a new day for American Catholicism's flagship see and its one post that has risen to...

Pope Benedict XVI is set to announce a new Archbishop of New York to replace Cardinal Edward Egan, an informed Vatican source tells Newsmax. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the source says the decision was made today and an announcement is expected “within the next week to ten days”. He says Cardinal Egan’s successor is from the “conservative and orthodox” wing of the Church. Speculation on the next leader of the New York Archdiocese, one of the most important posts in the U.S. Roman Catholic Church, has been going on for some time among church-watchers. Cardinal Egan, 76, submitted his...

Just Look October 23, 2008 The picture on this page is an untouched photograph of a being that has been within its mother for 20 weeks. Please do me the favor of looking at it carefully. Have you any doubt that it is a human being? If you do not have any such doubt, have you any doubt that it is an innocent human being? If you have no doubt about this either, have you any doubt that the authorities in a civilized society are duty-bound to protect this innocent human being if anyone were to wish to kill it?...

The leader of the Roman Catholic Church in New York is among those criticizing Fordham University for giving an award to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, a supporter of abortion rights.A spokesman for the New York Archdiocese said Cardinal Edward Egan was surprised to learn Breyer would receive an award from Fordham's law school and has spoken to the Catholic university's leaders to ensure "that a mistake of this sort will not happen again."Spokesman Joseph Zwilling said Monday that Egan was talking about Breyer's votes on the Court in favor of abortion rights.The protest against Breyer is being led...

Just Look The picture on this page is an untouched photograph of a being that has been within its mother for 20 weeks. Please do me the favor of looking at it carefully. photo Have you any doubt that it is a human being? If you do not have any such doubt, have you any doubt that it is an innocent human being? If you have no doubt about this either, have you any doubt that the authorities in a civilized society are duty-bound to protect this innocent human being if anyone were to wish to kill it? If your...

Recently, the Archdiocese of New York held its famous Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner, with both Senators John McCain and Barack Obama as guests. I watched the coverage today -- the story is all over the news, along with images of Obama and Edward Cardinal Egan sharing a laugh. Something about that bothered me. No, it's not what you think. I'm not upset that a Democrat and the cardinal were enjoying a conversation. This is not a partisan issue, and I would have had the same negative reaction if it were Rudy Giuliani or Susan Collins instead of Obama....

Representative Nancy Pelosi has been a lightning rod for the ire of conservatives for some time, but now she has drawn fire of a different kind. Within the last 24 hours, the archbishops of Denver, New York, Philadelphia and Washington D.C., along with Bishop William Lori have all publicly upbraided the Speaker of the House for her erroneous comments on the Church’s abortion teaching... Not only was Cardinal Egan shocked, but he went on to say that, “What the Speaker had to say about theologians and their positions regarding abortion was not only misinformed; it was also, and especially, utterly...