EWTN’s Mother Angelica has died

Founder of Novus Ordo TV Channel

EWTN’s Mother Angelica has Died

The founder of the American Novus Ordo flagship television channel EWTN has died. Mother Mary Angelica of the Annunciation, PCPA, passed away on Easter Sunday, March 27, 2016, a few weeks short of her 93rd birthday:

• Mother Angelica, 1923-2016
• Mother Angelica, Founder of EWTN, Dies at 92
• Mother Angelica dies on Easter Sunday

Mother Angelica founded the so-called Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) as a cable channel on August 15, 1981. EWTN has been the flagship TV channel for “conservative” Novus Ordos in the United States, with satellite operations in other countries. Popular programs over the years have included Mother Angelica Live, The Journey Home, Life on the Rock, and The Abundant Life. In terms of theology, Alabama-based EWTN is closely aligned with Catholic Answers and the Franciscan University of Steubenville. A substantial critique of the many problems with the pseudo-Catholic network, especially after Mother Angelica’s departure in 2001, was published some years ago by Christopher Ferrara: EWTN: A Network Gone Wrong. Although this book is written from a Neo-Traditionalist perspective, it contains lots of solid information about the cable channel. Far from being the gold standard in Catholic orthodoxy, EWTN is actually a prime purveyor of dangerous Modernist theology and thoroughly imbued with Vatican II doctrine.

Mother Angelica was born Rita Antoinette Rizzo on April 20, 1923, in Canton, Ohio. She entered the religious order of the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration (PCPA) in 1944. In 1987, she founded the Franciscan Missionaries of the Eternal Word. One of the highlights in her life as a TV personality was her 1997 dispute with the infamous “Cardinal” Roger Mahony of Los Angeles, whom she accused of effectively denying Transubstantiation in his pastoral letter, “Gather Faithfully Together” (PDF). On May 16, 2001, she said live on the air that she believed the Vatican did not reveal the entire Third Secret of Fatima. That same year, Mother Angelica suffered a stroke. In 2009, “Pope” Benedict XVI awarded her the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice medal. She has now died at the age of 92. Her funeral is scheduled for Friday, April 1.

EWTN has set up a special Mother Angelica Memorial section on their web site.

We pray that Mother Angelica repented of all her sins before her death, died in the state of sanctifying grace, and received a merciful judgment.

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