Edward Michael Egan, named the ninth archbishop of New York yesterday, has big shoes to fill as he succeeds the late Cardinal John O'Connor in the most visible Roman Catholic pulpit in America.
O'Connor died on May 3rd following a long illness related to a brain tumour, and Pope John Paul selected Dr Egan, a former Vatican official, to replace him, the Vatican said. The Pope was expected to elevate Dr Egan to cardinal when he next names the new "princes" of the church.
Friends and associates insist the Chicago-bred Dr Egan (68) is well-equipped to walk the tightrope between conservative Vatican doctrine and the comparatively liberal demands of 21st-century, multi-ethnic New York City.
As head of the Bridgeport, Connecticut, diocese for the past 12 years, Dr Egan built a reputation as a hard-working but downto-earth cleric who cared deeply about his district, which grouped Connecticut's richest and poorest communities.
In his former role, Dr Egan oversaw the 367,000 Catholics in Fairfield County, or about 43 per cent of that county's population. The Spanish-speaking Dr Egan was a good friend of O'Connor's, but he is expected to bring his own style to the high-profile role as spiritual leader of the New York City area's 2.4 million Catholics.
"Bishop Egan is a man who is absolutely forthright in expressing his opinion, but at the same time he is not particularly confrontational," said Mr Tom Drohan, spokesman for the Bridgeport diocese.
"He's a classical pianist, he has a great appreciation of the arts, he's a wonderful individual to converse with," said Mr Drohan.
He is a church lawyer and scholar who spent 22 years in Rome, where he was ordained in 1957. A professor of canon law at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, he was close to Pope Paul VI and later to Pope John Paul II.