NEW YORK (CWNews.com)/NE

    Archbishop Edward Egan of New York took control of America's most visible archdiocese with a two-day installation ceremony on June 18-19.

    On Sunday, June 18, the new archbishop received the pallium-- the symbol of an archbishop's authority-- in a colorful ceremony at St. Patrick's cathedral. The following day saw the installation ceremony, attended by such political celebrities as New York Governor George Pataki, New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, and the two leading candidates for the New York Senate seat, Hillary Clinton and Rick Lazio.

    Archbishop Egan is the 12th head of the New York archdiocese. He was appointed on May 11 to succeed Cardinal John O'Connor, who died on May 3 after a long battle with cancer.

    The second of two days of installation ceremonies was completed on Monday with a Mass celebrated by Archbishop Edward Egan, following his official appointment as the new prelate of the Archdiocese of New York.

    With a cadre of politicians and dignitaries present, many of them high-profile Catholic politicians who support legalized abortion, the archbishop did not shy away from addressing controversial topics in his homily. Archbishop Egan condemned the ongoing plagues of poverty, discrimination, euthanasia, and abortion afflicting the US.

    "May we stand idly by while the being within the mother is killed, even though no one has ever been able to prove it has anything but an inalienable right to live?" he asked. While his remark was greeted with sustained applause, the pro-abortion politicians present -- including Senate candidates Hillary Rodham Clinton and Rick Lazio, Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-New York, Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Connecticut, New York Gov. George Pataki, and New York Mayor Rudolph Guiliani -- remained impassive and immobile.

    The ceremony began with a 40-minute procession into St. Patrick's Cathedral of nearly 1,000 clergy, including eight cardinals, archbishops, and bishops. Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo, the papal nuncio to the United States, read a letter from Pope John Paul II. "Even as we mourn the sad passing of our venerable brother John Joseph O'Connor ... we naturally and spontaneously choose you ... whom we know to be an experienced herald of the Gospel and administrator well-versed in the affairs of the Church, to fill the vacant See of New York," the letter said. Cardinal O'Connor died of cancer on May 3.

    Church News reported that thousands of Catholics in New York attended Monday's installation ceremony of Archbishop Edward Michael Egan as the new Archbishop of New York. Archbishop Egan, who on Sunday officially took charge of the New York Archdiocese during a celebration at St. Patrick's Cathedral, presided the ceremony, attended by Archbishops from Boston, Washington and Chicago and approximately 700 priests. Also present were several civil and political personalities. Archbishop Egan was warmly welcomed by the hundreds of Catholics who filled St. Patrick's, as well as by the groups of faithful gathered outside who saw the celebration through monitors placed across the street from the cathedral. During his homily, Archbishop Egan, former Bishop of Bridgeport, touched several issues such as discrimination, poverty, health and aging. After the ceremony the new Archbishop, successor to the late Cardinal John O'Connor, proceeded out of the cathedral to greet the crowds gathered along New York's Fifth Avenue.

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