Bishop Edmund J. Whalen was born to Margaret (nee Rice) and John Whalen. Margaret’s family originated from Roscommon and Limerick while John’s family originated from Kilkenny. Bishop Whalen attended Msgr. Farrell High School in Staten Island, and later attended Cathedral College of the Immaculate Conception in Douglaston. Bishop Whalen went on to study at the Pontifical North American College in Rome. He was ordained a priest in 1984. Bishop Whelan served in many parishes across the Archdiocese of New York, including Resurrection, Rye, St. Benedict’s The Bronx, St. Joseph-St. Thomas, Staten Island. Bishop Whalen served as Secretary to Cardinal O’Connor from 1990 to 1992, and worked as a professor of moral theology at St. Joseph’s Seminary in Yonkers. He currently serves as Vicar for Clergy of the Archdiocese of New York since 2019. Bishop Whelan was also ordained Auxiliary Bishop of New York in 2019.