St. Patrick's Cathedral was "standing-room-only" yesterday at a thanksgiving mass led by Cardinal Egan celebrating the beatification of Pope John Paul II, the Daily News reports. Several New Yorkers in attendance were quoted as saying that "he deserved to be a saint," and that "it's a very cool thing--he was a very spiritual man." We assume the Vatican's HR department would screen out all of those "non-spiritual" papal applications (notable exception: Pope Dwayne "Boogie" Williams, also known as "The Surfer Pope" of the 12th century). more ›

The Archdiocese of Bridgeport was ordered to make public its documents related to sexual abuse allegations. And they suggest that Cardinal Edward Egan, who stepped down from the NY Archdiocese earlier this year and was Bridgeport's Bishop between 1988 and 2000, and his predecessor "either ignored complaints against...abusive priests, or simply did not believe them." The NY Times writes, "Throughout the testimony, Bishop Egan showed himself as an administrator who could be demanding of his staff, but at times felt limited in his ability to remove men from the priesthood despite several abuse complaints." more ›

Newly-installed Archbishop Timothy Dolan is continuing to make his presence felt in the media, keeping open discussions about hot button issues such as gay marriage and the possibility of marriage within the priesthood. Dolan seems to be making a concentrated effort to put a positive spin on the church's stance on topics that he knows might not sit well in a town as socially liberal as New York. more ›

Edward Cardinal Egan, who was hospitalized for a few days after suffering stomach pains, is apparently feeling much better: He is planning on celebrating Holy Thursday mass today, as well as Good Friday masses and Easter Sunday masses, at St. Patrick's Cathedral. Egan is retiring next week, and Archbishop Timothy Dolan is being installed as his replacement on April 15. The NY Archdiocese also commented about Egan's need for a pacemaker: "Also still to be determined is the date for the implant of a pacemaker. Because this is not an emergency situation, the doctors have allowed for some flexibility in the scheduling of the procedure." more ›

Edward Cardinal Egan is still at St. Vincent's Hospital; the NY Times reports that the 77-year-old head of the New York Archdiocese was kept for a third night for observation, after complaining of stomach pains on Saturday. He is expected to be released in a few days, but his involvement in church activities is unclear: Not only did Egan have numerous Easter Week services planned, but next week features ceremonies surrounding the installation of his successor, Archbishop Timothy Dolan. Archdiocese spokesman Joseph Zwilling said, "It would be very disappointing if he could not be there. But there are no plans to postpone the installation. There is a certain time frame in which a newly appointed archbishop has to be installed." The Times had this factoid: "Cardinal Egan, if he is able, would be the first New York archbishop since the mid-19th century to attend such a torch-passing ceremony. All his predecessors have died in office." Doctors also recommended that Egan, who is retiring, get a pacemaker, but that surgery has been postponed until he regains some more strength. more ›

Edward Cardinal Egan, who had been planning to wind down his leadership of the New York Archdiocese this week, was hospitalized yesterday with stomach pains—and then doctors recommended the 77-year-old receive a pacemaker. more ›

WCBS 2 reports that Cardinal Egan "was taken to St. Vincent's Hospital after experiencing stomach pains... Egan was awake and alert. Doctors were unclear what his problem was, but Church officials said the situation was not serious." Egan was planning on performing his last Palm Sunday mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral before his retirement, but did not due to his illness. WCBS 2 adds, "The Cardinal is intended to celebrate Easter Mass, pending successful hospital tests." Egan, who just turned 77, is retiring; Archbishop Timothy Dolan will be installed on April 15. Update: Cardinal Egan is receiving a pacemaker. more ›

Yesterday was Cardinal Egan's final "Conversation with the Cardinal on Sirius Radio's Catholic Channel. The NY Times reports that he tried to set the record straight: "In jocular, yet pointed remarks, he said that he would not, in fact, retire to a penthouse apartment in Paris; that he did not play Mozart sonatas for friends on the baby grand at his residence behind St. Patrick’s Cathedral; that he does not dine frequently at 'Upper East Side gourmet eateries'; and that he was not against continuing the rule of celibacy for priests." Egan, who also turned 77 yesterday, explained why he went on satellite radio, "I live in a town where the media are not friendly. They feel that they are going to be important only to the extent that they pull down not only ourselves, but any other institution that seems to have some standing. So I think it’s important to talk over the media." The new Cardinal, Timothy Dolan, will be installed on April 15, 2009. more ›

As he prepares to retire in just a few weeks as archbishop of New York, Cardinal Egan has made some open-ended remarks about the possibility of marriage in the priesthood. In a radio interview with Fred Dicker, Egan said, “I think that it’s going to be discussed; it’s a perfectly legitimate discussion...I think it has to be looked at. And I am not so sure it wouldn’t be a good idea to decide on the basis of geography and culture not to make an across-the-board determination.” Naturally with such a hot button issue that is rarely addressed by as major of a church figure as Egan (and the conservative cardinal in particular), figures from both sides of the issue are downplaying/lauding it accordingly. Neither spokespeople for Egan nor incoming Archbishop Dolan would comment—Dolan notably squashed the issue when his priests in Milwaukee attempted to bring it to the table. One priest told the Times that no matter how people read Egan's remarks, "It was kind of brave for him to say what everybody’s been thinking." more ›

Stocks closed up today, capping the U.S. markets' best week since November. CNBC reports, "The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 53.92, or 0.8 percent, to close at 7,223.98. That brought its four-day total to nearly 700 points, or more than 10 percent. All 30 Dow stocks finished the week positive. Even with Monday's decline, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq each gained more than 10 percent this week." Of course, this comes as economists still expect the GDP to "decline at an annual rate of 4.6% this quarter and 1.5% in the second quarter" and China, which has $1 trillion of U.S. debt, is worried about U.S. Treasuries. more ›

Yesterday, the new head of the New York Archdiocese met parishioners as well as the press. Archbishop Timothy Dolan, appointed by Pope Benedict XVI to succeed Cardinal Edward Egan, is eager to get to know his new town, "I'm going to look forward to being part of everything in New York, from the New York Yankees to the museums to the soup kitchens to the orphanages to the hospitals." more ›

Last night, word leaked from the Vatican that Pope Benedict XVI would appoint Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan, of Milwaukee, to lead the Archdiocese of New York. The Archdiocese's current head, Cardinal Edward Egan, handed in his resignation letter in 2007 when he turned 75, in keeping with Vatican Law. more ›

In one corner, you have Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer; in the other, there's Cardinal Edward Egan, head of the NY Archdiocese. And in the middle, it's Fordham's Law School, which is drawing heat from Catholics for bestowing its annual Fordham Stein Prize on Breyer. Breyer, appointed by Bill Clinton in 1994, has supported abortion rights (as have other Fordham Stein honorees), prompting a petition opposing the award. In particular, Breyer's opinion in Stenberg v. Carhart--known at the case about partial-birth abortions--where the majority found "Nebraska’s statute criminalizing the performance of 'partial birth abortion[s]' violates the Federal Constitution"--bothers Catholics. A NY Archdiocese spokesman said Egan called Fordham and was "confident that a mistake of this sort will not happen again," though the AP points out other prize honorees have supported abortion rights. more ›

It's a $20 million miracle for an East Village church slated for demolition! An anonymous donor has given a multi-million donation to the struggling parish and its school: There's $10 million for the restoration of the the church, $2 million for a parish endowment and $8 million to support St. Brigid's school and other Catholic schools. more ›

Now that he has welcomed Pope Benedict XVI to NYC, the NY Times speculates that Cardinal Edward Egan could retire soon. Egan, the head of the powerful NY Archdiocese, presented his resignation letter last year (required by Vatican Law of all archbishops who turn 75). more ›

Edward Cardinal Egan, the archbishop of the New York Archdiocese, had no patience of protesters or reporters covering the protests outside a Midtown church yesterday. Some people have been upset their local churches have been closed by the Catholic Church, most notably parishioners Our Lady Queen of Angels in East Harlem, who have been protesting the February closing every weekend since February. And yesterday, outside of St. John the Baptist on West 31st Street, Our Lady Queen of Angels parishioners-turned-protesters gathered to ask Egan, "Why have you abandoned us?" more ›

It was the coldest Easter Sunday in 67 years, but there were still lots of colorful and crazy hats on display during the Easter Parade. The parade also travels past St. Patrick's Cathedral, where Edward Cardinal Egan was smiling at the crowds. But the Post noted his Easter homily was more serious:

There is so much information that is forced upon us. It's impossible to click through [television] channels without being shamed. There are obstacles on the Internet and in magazines - this is the harsh reality of 2007. The hard part - the challenging part - is learning how to commit ourselves to avoiding the occasions of sin.

We knew the Catholic Church was sneaky, but we never thought that a cardinal would stoop this low! Cardinal Egan had a meeting with the priest at Our Lady of Vilnius Church yesterday, only to take the opportunity to lock the church while the priest was gone! The Post reports that security guards were dispatched to lock the doors, leaving parishioners to cry when they found a closed church and no mass. more ›

On Wednesday a blog called Whispers in the Loggia posted an open letter from New York priests calling for a vote of no confidence in Cardinal Edward Egan, archbishop of New York. The Daily News quickly picked up on the story, as did the Post, and today the Times catches up with the story. more ›

-- Check out the sausage-fest at the "First Annual Male Escort Awards." more ›

New York Press makes it's annual attempt at relevancy this week with it's list of the 50 Most Loathsome New Yorkers. Sigh. more ›

- Typepad had an ouchy
more ›