FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 13, 2010

Archbishop Timothy Dolan and Edward Cardinal Egan each released a statement mourning the passing of George Steinbrenner, owner of the New York Yankees.

 

Archbishop Dolan:

"I was deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Mr. George Steinbrenner today. My sincere condolences go to Mrs. Steinbrenner and the entire Steinbrenner family.

When I was a young boy and budding baseball fan growing up in Saint Louis, everybody knew of the great New York Yankees. Even when they were your opponent, they were a team to be admired and respected.
 
That is why it was such a great joy to have been invited by Mr. Steinbrenner to join him in his box for the grand opening of the new Yankee Stadium in April 2009, as well as for a World Series game last October. They were experiences I’ll never forget. Mr. Steinbrenner and his family were very warm and welcoming to me, the new kid in town. 
 
I’ve since learned that such acts of kindness were very much in keeping with the Steinbrenner tradition, and Catholic agencies here in New York and in Florida were often the beneficiary of his and the Steinbrenner family’s generosity. Following the devastating earthquake in Haiti this past January, the Steinbrenners and the New York Yankees responded immediately, with a $225,000 donation to Catholic Relief Services.
 
Of course, the Archdiocese of New York will never forget Mr. Steinbrenner’s tremendous goodness in arranging for Yankee Stadium to welcome Pope John Paul II in 1979 and Pope Benedict XVI in 2008 for the holy sacrifice of the Mass.
 
George Steinbrenner will have a special remembrance in my Masses and prayers."
 
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Cardinal Egan:
  
“Just a few days ago I wrote a letter to Mr. George Steinbrenner to wish him a happy 80th birthday. In my letter I thanked him once again for his extraordinary kindness and generosity to the Archdiocese of New York on the occasion of the Pastoral visit of Pope Benedict XVI to our City two years ago. Thus it is with the deepest sadness that I learned this morning of the passing of this great New Yorker.
  
George Steinbrenner was not only a marvelous leader of the New York Yankees, he was also an exemplary citizen of our community. His many acts of charity in favor of Catholic institutions, his kindness to Terence Cardinal Cooke when Pope John Paul II came to New York in 1979, and his deeply appreciated goodness to me and so many of our clergy and religious will never be forgotten.
 
Mr. Steinbrenner will always have a very special place in my prayers, just as he will always have a very special place in the hearts of New Yorkers of all ages. May the Lord bless and console his beloved family in their loss and grant him, “The Boss,” eternal rest.”

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