March 5, 2015 — New York, New York
AJC mourns the passing of His Eminence Cardinal Edward Egan and offers comfort and consolation to the leadership and constituents of the Archdiocese of New York, where he served as Archbishop from 2000-2009. He was elevated to Cardinal by His Holiness Pope John Paul II in 2001.
Cardinal Egan was a friend of the Jewish people and served in New York and Chicago, home to two of the largest Jewish communities outside of Israel. Active with the rabbinic community and interfaith endeavors in Chicago, he spoke out in New York toward advancement of the gains of the Church’s Nostra Aetate document, which totally transformed Catholic-Jewish relations. This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of Nostra Aetate’s promulgation.
“The Archbishop of New York plays a critical role in advancing Catholic-Jewish relations and Cardinal Egan is remembered as a friend who humbly built upon his Jewish relationships and lived out with the Jewish people the Nostra Aetate ideal of the oneness of ‘the community of all peoples,’” said Rabbi Noam Marans, AJC Director of Interreligious and Intergroup Relations.
