RIP Mother Mary Angelica, a folksy Roman
Catholic nun (pictured) who used a monastery garage to begin a
television ministry that grew into a global religious media empire, has
died aged 92
...anchor of 'Mother Angelica Live'
...founded Eternal Word Television Network - the world's largest religious media network with just $200 from a monastry garage 25 years ago
Continue after the cut ...
...anchor of 'Mother Angelica Live'
...founded Eternal Word Television Network - the world's largest religious media network with just $200 from a monastry garage 25 years ago
Continue after the cut ...
Mother Angelica had been in declining health since suffering a severe cerebral hemorrhage on Christmas Eve 2001
In
the face of sickness and long-suffering trials, Mother's example of joy
and prayerful perseverance exemplified the Franciscan spirit she held
so dear. We thank God for Mother Angelica and for the gift of her
extraordinary life,' Warsaw said in a news release late Sunday.
Mother Angelica had been in declining health since suffering a severe cerebral hemorrhage on Christmas Eve 2001.
She never regained her full speaking ability and had other, less-severe strokes through the years.
Bedridden
for months, Mother Angelica was placed on a feeding tube this fall as
her health slowly declined, fellow nuns at Our Lady of the Angels
Monastery said in an announcement released in November.
Although
she had been out of the public eye for years and was no longer
appearing on her trademark 'Mother Angelica Live' show, old episodes of
her show have remained a programming staple on Eternal Word.
'We
want you to know how much God loves you, and that's a lot,' she told
viewers at the end of an episode taped in November 2000.
Mother
Angelica displayed both deep devotion to Jesus and a comic's timing on
the episode, drawing laughs when she couldn't reach her Bible during the
opening sequence.
An unseen aide hands her the book from off camera.
'That's when you appreciate long arms,' Mother Angelica deadpanned.
Mother Angelica was born Rita Rizzo in Canton, Ohio, in 1923.
She
entered the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration monastery in Cleveland
at age 21 and joined other nuns in moving South to open a new monastery
in Alabama in 1962.
Photo: EWTNMother has
always, and will always, personify EWTN, the Network which she founded'
said EWTN Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Michael P. Warsaw (right)
With
only $200, the nun began broadcasting a religious talk show from a TV
studio put together in the monastery garage in suburban Birmingham in
1981.
That show grew into Eternal Word Television Network, which has long had the blessing of the Vatican.
While
critics sometimes accuse Eternal Word Television Network of being too
conservative or too liberal, it says it tries to stick to the leadership
of the Vatican.
The network reports extensively on statements and trips by the pope.
Despite its humble beginnings, EWTN Global Catholic Network calls itself the world's largest religious media network.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be
celebrated at 11.00 am Friday at the Shrine of the Most Blessed
Sacrament in Hanceville (pictured)
It
has 11 TV networks that broadcast Catholic programming to more than 258
million households in more than 145 counties and territories.
Eternal
Word's radio operation includes a global shortwave broadcast; satellite
and Internet radio channels; and more than 300 Catholic radio
affiliates in the United States.
Its print services include The National Catholic Register newspaper, the Catholic News Agency and EWTN Publishing Inc.
The
nonprofit broadcaster reported total revenues of $46 million in 2013,
the last year for which tax records are available. Of that, $45.4
million came from donations.
An associated catalog division reported revenues of $2.7 million in 2013, mostly from sales, records show.
A
Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11.00 am Friday at the
Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Hanceville. Interment will
immediately follow in the Shrine's Crypt Church.
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