Cardinal Edward Michael Egan, who served as the Roman Catholic Archbishop of New York from 2000 to 2009, died of cardiac arrest at NYU's Langone Medical Center this afternoon. He was 82.

Egan, who was appointed archbishop by Pope John Paul II, was known for his low-key and academic approach to the archdiocese as well as a sometimes icy relationship with New York's Catholic priests, as a 2007 New York magazine profile lays out:

Historically, the city's top priest has been a tribal chieftain as much as a spiritual leader—a man who represents the pride of a blue-collar immigrant community that overcame prejudice and hardship to become the most prominent and powerful religious force in the city. Every bishop has a threefold mandate, "to teach, to sanctify, and to govern," and New York churchmen have made full use of those powers...

Not so Egan. From the start, he approached the job more as a private administrator than as a civic leader. He eschewed partisan politics and shunned the media.

Before his appointment as New York archbishop, Egan served as Bishop of Bridgeport from 1988 to 2000, where priests were accused of sexually abusing minors. Egan half-apologized for his handling of the episode in 2002, saying, "If in hindsight we also discover that mistakes may have been made as regards prompt removal of priests and assistance to victims, I am deeply sorry." But in 2009, he retracted his apology, claiming, "I don't think we did anything wrong."

"Join me, please, in thanking God for his life, especially his generous and faithful priesthood," Cardinal Dolan, Egan's successor as New York archbishop said in a statement today. "My sympathy to his natural family, who will grieve for their uncle, and to you, his spiritual family here in the Archdiocese of New York."

[Image via AP]