Cardinal Egan, retired NY archbishop, dies at age 82; led archdiocese during Sept. 11 attacks

FILE- In this Aug. 19, 2011 file photo, Cardinal Edward Egan speaks with a reporter during an interview in New York. Egan, who was Archbishop-Emeritus, 12th bishop and 9th archbishop and 7th Cardinal of the See of New York, died of cardiac arrest, Thursday, March 5, 2015, in New York. He was 82. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, File) (The Associated Press)

FILE- In this April 12, 2009 file photo, Cardinal Edward Egan receives a standing ovation after speaking to worshipers during Easter Mass in New York. Egan, the former archbishop of New York, died of cardiac arrest Thursday, March 5, 2015, in New York. He was 82. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File) (The Associated Press)

FILE- In this March 19, 2009 file photo, Cardinal Edward Egan speaks with a couple of women along the route of the St. Patrick's Day Parade 2009, in New York. Egan, the former archbishop of New York, died of cardiac arrest Thursday, March 5, 2015, in New York. He was 82. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II, File) (The Associated Press)

Roman Catholic Cardinal Edward Egan, the former archbishop of New York, has died. He was 82.

The Archdiocese of New York says Egan died Thursday afternoon at a New York hospital. The cause of death was cardiac arrest.

Pope John Paul II had appointed Egan as leader of the archdiocese in 2000 to succeed the late Cardinal John O'Connor.

Egan was archbishop during the Sept. 11 terror attacks during which he anointed the dead at a lower Manhattan hospital and presided over many funerals for victims.

He was a scholar of church law and spoke Latin fluently. John Paul chose him to help with the massive job of reviewing a revised canon law code for the global church.

A native of Illinois, Egan retired as New York archbishop in 2009.