Cardinal Edward Egan, a former Roman Catholic archbishop of New York, who won praise for his leadership after the Sept. 11 attacks, died today ( Thursday, March 5,2015) at age 82.

Cardinal Egan, considered an expert in theology and canon law, was pronounced dead at 2:20 p.m. (EST) at NYU Langone Medical Center, where he was taken after eating lunch at his residence, the archdiocese said in a statement. The cause of death was cardiac arrest.

As archbishop of New York from 2000 to 2009, Egan was praised for the role he played as spiritual leader of the city's Catholic community after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that destroyed the World Trade Center.

"Cardinal Egan spread love and knowledge, and brought comfort to countless New Yorkers and others across the country and the world who sought his guidance and counsel – especially in the aftermath of 9/11," New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a statement today.

Born in Oak Park, Illinois in 1932, Egan was ordained a priest in 1957 and consecrated a bishop in 1985. In 1988, he was appointed bishop of the Diocese of Bridgeport, Connecticut. In 2001 Egan was appointed by Pope John Paul II to the College of Cardinals. In 2002 Pope John Paul II named Egan, along with five other cardinals, to the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signature, the Church's highest court in matters of Canon Law.

His pivotal role in restructuring the Major archdiocesan seminary in Yonkers, New York was widely appreciated by the laity and the seminarians. For the retired priests of the archdiocese, Cardinal Egan established the John Cardinal O'Connor residence in the Riverdale section of the Bronx, New York. Egan was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the 2005 papal conclave that selected Pope Benedict XVI.

His death was publicly announced today by his successor Cardinal & Archbishop Timothy Dolan.