The former Catholic Archbishop of Sydney Cardinal Edward Clancy has died at the age of 90.

Clancy served as archbishop between 1983 and 2001, years that saw the church in Sydney undergo great change.

He was born on December 13, 1923, at Lithgow, to school teacher John Bede Clancy and Ellen Lucy Edwards and was ordained as a priest in July 23, 1949 by Cardinal Norman Gilroy.

He was succeeded as the head of the Sydney church by then Archbishop of Melbourne George Pell, now a senior Vatican official.

The Sydney position remains vacant, awaiting the appointment of a new archbishop.

Clancy died early on Sunday, according to a senior Sydney parish priest.

He had been in ill health for several years since his retirement.