New York ( CNN ) Cardinal Edward Egan , who led the Archdiocese of New York for nearly a decade , died Thursday at 82 , the archdiocese announced . Egan was pronounced dead of a heart attack at NYU Langone Medical Center at 2:20 p.m. `` Thank God he had a peaceful death , passing away right after lunch today , '' Cardinal Timothy Dolan , Egan 's successor and current archbishop of New York , said in a statement . Egan was appointed archbishop of New York in 2000 and later cardinal in 2001 by Pope John Paul II . Egan retired from the archdiocese in 2009 . As the leader of one of the largest Catholic communities in the country , Egan oversaw a growth of more than 200,000 registered parishioners and welcomed Pope Benedict XVI on a visit to New York City in 2008 to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the founding of the Diocese of New York . `` Cardinal Egan spread love and knowledge , and brought comfort to countless New Yorkers and others across the country and the world who sought his guidance and counsel -- especially in the aftermath of 9/11 , '' said New York Mayor Bill de Blasio in a statement . Egan served previously as the bishop of Bridgeport , Connecticut , from 1988 to 2000 , when the diocese was at the center of a child sex abuse scandal . The Bridgeport diocese in 2001 paid $ 15 million to 26 plaintiffs to settle sexual abuse claims against eight priests . Egan apologized for his involvement in the scandal in a letter read across the New York archdiocese in 2002 , though he later retracted that apology in an interview with Connecticut Magazine 10 years later . `` I should never have said that , '' Egan said . `` I did say 'If we did anything wrong , I 'm sorry , ' but I do n't think we did anything wrong . '' Egan was born in Oak Park , Illinois , in 1932 and was ordained in Rome at the Pontifical North American College in 1957 . Funeral arrangements are pending , the archdiocese said . People we 've lost in 2015 .
Cardinal Edward Egan died of a heart attack . He served as archbishop of New York from 2000 to 2009 .