| EWTN | |
|---|---|
| Launched | 1981 |
| Picture format | 480i (SDTV) 1080i (HDTV) |
| Headquarters | Irondale, Alabama, United States |
| Website | EWTN.com |
| Availability | |
| Terrestrial | |
| EWTN Radio Network | EWTN.com station list |
| Shortwave radio | EWTN.com frequency list |
| Satellite | |
| DirecTV | Channel 370 |
| Dish Network | Channel 261 |
| Sky Angel | Channel 143 |
| Sky Digital UK & Ireland | Channel 589 |
| SKY Italia | Channel 965 |
| Galaxy 17 | Transponder 11, 3920Mhz - QPSK Digital Multiple Channels |
| Galaxy 15 | Transponder 11, Analog Master Feed |
| Cable | |
| UPC Ireland | Channel 815 |
| SkyCable Philippines | Channel 76 |
| Global Destiny Cable Philippines | Channel 99 |
| Bright House Networks (USA) | Channel 70 |
| Satellite radio | |
| Sirius Satellite Radio | Channel 160 |
| IPTV | |
| Verizon FIOS | Channel 285 |
| Internet television | |
| Digital media receiver | Roku |
The Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) is an American cable television network which presents Catholic-themed programming. It was founded by Mother Mary Angelica of the Annunciation, PCPA (born Rita Antoinette Rizzo) in 1980 and made its first broadcast on August 15, 1981 from a garage at the Our Lady of the Angels monastery in Irondale, Alabama. It initially aired four hours of programming per day. EWTN began broadcasting around the clock in 1987. Shortwave radio station WEWN was established in 1992, and, in 1996, they began broadcasting on AM/FM radio. EWTN also has a presence on Sirius Satellite Radio and offers Spanish language broadcasts on all platforms. High-definition broadcasts began on December 8, 2009.[1] EWTN is a member of the World Catholic Association for Communication.[2][3]
In addition to regular programs such as a live daily Mass from the Our Lady of Angels Chapel (located on the monastery property) and a taped daily praying of the Rosary led by Mother Angelica and other nuns of her order, the Franciscans[4], EWTN presents a variety of daily and weekly news, talk, and educational programs for adults and children. Special programming, such as the recent beatification of Blessed Pope John Paul II, is occasionally presented. Mother Angelica herself hosted her own show, Mother Angelica Live, but a series of health issues (including her second major stroke) forced her to reduce her workload. Aged 88, she leads a cloistered life at the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Hanceville, Alabama and rarely appears on television in new programming. Reruns of her live show now air as Mother Angelica Live Classics and The Best of Mother Angelica Live.[5]
EWTN has occasionally been the subject of criticism for its largely conservative social, political, and theological positions. Notably, in 2000, the Holy See sent an Apostolic visitor the network. Believing that it could possibly endanger the network's independence and put it under ecclesiastical control, Mother Angelica eventually turned EWTN over to a board of governors composed exclusively of lay people[6], which assured its independence from the Holy See. The current president is Michael P. Warsaw.[7][8]
While the network has trustees, it does not have shareholders or owners. A majority of the network's funding is from viewer donations. Its traditional plea to donors is, "Keep us between your gas and electric bill".[9]
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Mother Angelica made her profession of vows in 1953. In 1962, she established the Our Lady of the Angels monastery. During the 1970s, she was an in-demand lecturer and produced educational audio and video tapes. She had been a guest on local station WBMG (formerly WIAT), and on shows on the Christian Broadcasting Network and the Trinity Broadcasting Network. After she gave an interview on then-Christian station WCFC TV 38 in Chicago, she decided she wanted her own network. "I walked in, and it was just a little studio, and I remember standing in the doorway and thinking, 'It doesn't take much to reach the masses'. I just stood there and said to the Lord, 'Lord, I've got to have one of these'".[10]
Mother Angelica purchased satellite space and EWTN began broadcasting on August 15, 1981 with four hours of daily programming, which included her own show, Mother Angelica Live (aired two nights a week), a Sunday Mass, and reruns of older Catholic programs such as Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen's Life Is Worth Living. The remainder of the time was filled with shows produced by dioceses across the country, shows from Protestant sources which Mother Angelica determined were in concert with Catholic teachings, and children's shows such as Joy Junction and The Sunshine Factory. About one-third of programming time consisted of secular content, such as re-runs of The Bill Cosby Show, public domain films, and cooking and western-themed shows. ETWN eventually expanded to 6 hours a day and then to eight hours a day by 1986. Secular content was gradually reduced from 1986 to 1988, and satellite distribution was expanded late in 1987, whereupon EWTN began broadcasting around the clock when it acquired a far more desirable satellite channel. At this point, EWTN began broadcasting the praying of the rosary on a daily basis and added a number of educational shows. Production of original programming gradually increased. The Mass, which formerly aired on a weekly basis, became televised daily in 1991 from a chapel on the monastery grounds. By then most shows from non-Catholic sources had been gradually dropped and a more theologically conservative image gradually developed.
In 1992, EWTN established the largest privately-owned shortwave radio station, WEWN, in the Birmingham area.
In 1999, programs included "Mother Angelica Live" and "Life Is Worth Living" with Fulton J. Sheen. WGSN in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina was an affiliate.[11]
In 2004, EWTN announced an agreement with Sirius Satellite Radio (which has since merged with XM Radio to become Sirius XM Radio).
In January 2011, EWTN acquired the National Catholic Register, a newspaper founded in Denver, Colorado in 1924 as a periodical for local Catholics which became a national publication three years later. EWTN officially assumed total control on February 1.[12]
The EWTN news department produces a daily news service for television and radio, featuring news sources including Vatican Radio. They also produce The World Over Live, which covers relevant current events. It is hosted by journalist and author Raymond Arroyo, who is also EWTN's news director. The program is conservative in its political orientation and generally conservative in its religious orientation. Notable guests have included Robert Rector of the Heritage Foundation, author and activist George Weigel, political commentator Laura Ingraham, conservative political commentator Pat Buchanan, and the late columnist and commentator Robert Novak, a Jewish convert to Catholicism.
In its early history, EWTN broadcast Catholic-produced programming from a wide variety of Catholic sources. This ranged from Catholic charismatic programming such as Fr. Michael Manning, to shows focusing on social reform and social justice, such as Christopher Closeup, to doctrinal teaching shows hosted by various clergy.
In the early 1990s, EWTN began producing more of its own shows. This marked a distinctive conservative shift in the network's overall orientation, with programs featuring topics on social reform and justice gradually being phased out and replaced with general doctrinal teaching and discussion programs. This shift was apparent in the daily televised Masses, which, in 1992, began incorporating Latin into the liturgy and gradually no longer featuring contemporary music. Some non-televised Masses are in all English. On Christmas Eve 1993, Mother Angelica and the nuns of her order reverted to traditional habits.
EWTN has programs discussing non-Catholic beliefs from the Catholic perspective, such as The Journey Home. Host Marcus Grodi is a former Presbyterian minister who converted to Catholicism in 1992.[13] Guests are generally former Protestants or "cradle Catholics" who left the Catholic faith and later returned. Former adherents of non-Christian faiths (such as Judaism) and former atheists have occasionally appeared.
Sunday Night Prime (formerly "Sunday Night Live with Fr. Benedict Groeschel") hosts theological and doctrinal discussions from viewers. Groeschel, in addition to being a priest, is also a trained psychologist.
EWTN HD, a high definition simulcast of EWTN, became available to affiliates on December 8, 2009. CEO Michael P. Warsaw said "We chose to launch HD in December so we could bring our viewers all the beautiful images of the Christmas season using the most advanced technology. We are proud to say that we are the only Catholic television network available in this format."[14] The HD feed first became available to Comcast customers in Richmond, VA and vicinity on May 11, 2010.[15]
In October 2011, EWTN became available through the Roku streaming player. The player provides four live channels of EWTN for free (English, Spanish and German languages as well as a United Kingdom feed), allowing users to watch the channel on their television.[16]
Often, EWTN airs special programming: coverage the deaths of popes; papal conclaves, elections, inaugurations and visits; Easter, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day Masses; the installations of bishops, archbishops, and cardinals; and World Youth Day.
As previously noted, EWTN has occasionally engendered criticism.
In one notable incident, in a 1993 episode of Mother Angelica Live, Mother Angelica harshly criticized a mimed re-enactment of the Stations of the Cross at the World Youth Day in Denver, Colorado which was attended by Blessed Pope John Paul II. Mother Angelica was particularly upset that a woman was playing Jesus. Controversial archbishop Rembert Weakland of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee called Mother Angelica's comments "... one of the most disgraceful, un-Christian, offensive, and divisive diatribes I have ever heard".[17] Mother Angelica responded by saying, "He didn't think a woman playing Jesus was offensive? He can go put his head in the back toilet as far as I am concerned"![18]
In 1997, Mother Angelica publicly criticized Cardinal Roger Mahony, then the archbishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, for his pastoral letter on the Eucharist called "Gather Faithfully Together: A Guide for Sunday Mass", which she perceived had a lack of emphasis on transubstantiation[19]: "I’m afraid my obedience in that diocese would be absolutely zero. And I hope everybody else’s in that diocese is zero".[20] Cardinal Mahony regarded her comments as accusing him of heresy.[21] Mother Angelica later issued a conditional, albeit reluctant, apology for her comments.
In 1999, Bishop David Foley of the Archdiocese of Birmingham, Alabama issued a decree prohibiting priests in his diocese from celebrating Mass ad orientem ("to the east"; that is, with the priest and the people facing east) under most circumstances.[22] Although the decree did not specifically mention EWTN, the wording of the decree, which stated that "...any Mass that is or will be televised for broadcast or videotaped for public dissemination", supporters and critics alike generally agreed that the decree was written with EWTN specifically in mind. Bishop Foley stated that the practice of having the priest's back to the people "amounts to making a political statement and is dividing the people."[22] The network eventually complied with Bishop Foley's order.[23] As a result of this incident, the Holy See appointed an Apostolic Visitor, Archbishop Roberto González Nieves of San Juan, Puerto Rico, to investigate. Nieves determined that there were three distinct problems: the actual ownership of the network, the monastery's right to give property to EWTN, and, since she had never been elected, the legitimacy of Mother Angelica's authority.[24] To prevent the Holy See from making changes, Mother Angelica resigned her positions on the EWTN board and turned it completely over to lay people, which severed official connection with her monastery and assured that the management of EWTN were not directly dependent on the bishops or the Holy See.[25][26]
On January 1, 2006, a book critical of EWTN and Mother Angelica, EWTN: A Network Gone Wrong by Christopher A. Ferrara, was published. According to the book's promotional website, "Basing itself on extensive evidence taken from EWTN’s own content, and comparing that content to the perennial belief and practice of the Church, the book shows that EWTN’s 'moderately Modernist' version of the Faith is precisely what St. Pius X had in view when he condemned Modernism in all its forms, including what His Holiness called 'the Modernist as reformer'".[27]
EWTN boasts that it has become the largest religious media network in the world. As of February 2008, its programming reached more than 146 million homes in 127 countries and 16 territories on more than 5,200 cable systems, wireless cable, direct broadcast satellite, low power television, and individual satellite users. A 1994 National Catholic Reporter cover story claimed EWTN employed 124 people and received annual donations totaling approximately $25 million, of which approximately $8.5 million goes toward operating expenses.[28]
On October 4, 2009, Mother Angelica and Deacon Bill Steltemeier, at the time the chairman of EWTN’s board of governors, were recipients of the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice (the Cross of Honor) by Pope Benedict XVI for distinguished service to the Catholic Church. Bishop Robert J. Baker of the Diocese of Birmingham conferred the awards.[29] In commenting on the award, Bishop Baker said the award is, "... a significant acknowledgment by our Holy Father, of Mother's labors of love in support of our Church. By giving awards the Church is not saying people or institutions are perfect, but we are saying that Mother Angelica, through this network, has made a significant contribution to the new evangelization heralded and promoted by recent Popes".[30]
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