Retiring New York archbishop Cardinal Edward Egan has hosted his last official event - a welcome for incoming Archbishop Timothy Dolan.The New York Daily News reports that Cardinal Egan presided over the welcome ceremony for new Catholics at St. Patrick's Cathedral on Sunday.
"This will be my last such event," said Egan, 76, during a homily he delivered before pews packed with people from 90 of the Archdiocese of New York's 400 parishes.
The crowd was enthusiastic, breaking into applause when Egan, wearing a purple robe, told a gentle joke about the weather.
The ceremony, called a rite of election, took place on the first Sunday of Lent to give converts time to reflect before they receive sacraments for the first time right before Easter. It was conducted in a mix of English, Spanish and Chinese.
Egan has spent nine years as spiritual leader of 2.5 million Catholics in Manhattan, the Bronx, Staten Island and seven nearby counties.
He is now officially called the apostolic administrator and will be replaced by Milwaukee Archbishop Timothy Dolan, who will be formally installed April 15.
Egan, whose last major Mass at St. Pat's will be Easter Sunday, spoke his happiness at having a large number of Chinese-speaking New Yorkers at the rite of election.
During a visit to Communist China in the early 1970s, he and the priests in his travel group were invited to tea by young people who wanted to speak in secret about God, he recalled.
"What happened tonight must never be known," the priests were warned afterward.
In his years presiding over the archdiocese's annual rite of election, Egan has welcomed more than 5,000 new Catholics.
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(Source: CTHN)