FATHER EGAN
Our deepest condolences to a great father I made smiled twice. He was a public figure humble enough to say sorry. We will forever remember his tall and gentle loving figure.
“Tell me more about it…”
I met Cardinal Edward M. Egan many times. He was a father I was able to make smile twice. The first time I met him, it was in the elevators of the Catholic Charites Building on 1011 1st Avenue. I greeted him in the elevator and immediately begun to talk to him about the ‘Interfaith Living Museum’, a peace project of the Museum of Jewish Heritage that I was part of. After coming out of the elevator, he held on to the wall next to the security post and said “We need more projects like this in the city.” He held my hand and smiled, prayed for me and then directed me to his contact person.
My second meeting with father Egan was in the Park Avenue Synagogue where we were both invited guests. I walked up to him with my humblest greetings again, and immediately started from where I left off at our first encounter. But this time to get his undivided attention, I informed him that we had just celebrated ‘The Jesus Month”, meaning Peace December. He looked at me and said “Tell me more about it.” Once I was done explaining the meaning of ‘Peace December’, he said to me “You are a man of peace, aren’t you”. I replied by quoting Matthew 5:9. He shook my hand and smiled again and personally made a connection between me and the Catholic Leadership.
May you rest comfortably Father Egan. Rest in peace, indeed!
Sheikh Moussa Drammeh
Chairman
New York Peace Coalition
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