Free Republic

They’ve long delivered the Good News. And now, simply news. The Eternal Word Television Network, which, from an unlikely start in the garage of an Alabama monastery, has become one of the world’s biggest religious broadcasting operations, is bulking up its presence in Washington this summer by starting its first evening newscast. The live, half-hour show, scheduled to start next month, is a major step for the Catholic broadcast company, whose message is typically expressed through devotional talk shows, replays of Mass and religious education programming such as series on the Eucharist or the saints. By planting a stake in...

When Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) was launched on Aug. 15, 1981, many felt there would be little demand for a Catholic network. In fact, when Mother M. Angelica, a cloistered nun, fulfilled a promise to our Lord in the early 1960s by founding Our Lady of Angels Monastery in Irondale, Ala., she had no idea she would one day found the largest religious media network in the world. Who could have imagined that a cloistered nun would found a global television network? Who could have predicted that a network funded entirely by donations from “people in the pews” instead of...

Michael Warsaw, President and CEO of EWTN. Credit: EWTN. Birmingham, Ala., Mar 26, 2013 / 12:23 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The EWTN Global Catholic Network is “extremely disappointed” by a Monday court ruling that dismissed as “unripe” its lawsuit against a federal mandate that could require the organization to violate Catholic teaching. “Contraception, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs are not healthcare. EWTN cannot and will not compromise our strongly held beliefs on these moral issues,” EWTN President and CEO Michael P. Warsaw said March 25. On Monday Judge Sharon Lovelace Blackburn of the U.S. District Court in Birmingham dismissed the Irondale,...

(Fox News excerpt of AP) VATICAN CITY – Thousands of people are pouring into St. Peter's Square to witness the official start of the papacy of the first pope from the New World. (snip) The installation Mass is simpler than the 2005 ceremony for Pope Benedict XVI in keeping with Francis' style, but still grand enough to draw 132 official delegations and religious leaders from around the world, including the spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians who is attending for the first time since the two branches of Christianity split 1,000 years ago. (Bold print above not in the...

Vatican firefighters secure a smokestack on the roof of the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican March 9. Smoke coming from the chimney will be the only sign to the world of how things are progressing inside the chapel during the conclave. White smoke signals that the cardinal electors have elected a new pope. Black smoke indicates voting has been not been conclusive. (CNS photo/Paul Haring) Yesterday Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi, SJ released a schedule for the sessions of the conclave to elect a new pope, set to begin Tuesday, March 12, including a time-table for when the “fumata” (the...

A giant in Catholic broadcasting—and one of the most familiar and recognizable deacons in America—has died.From the National Catholic Register: Deacon R. William Steltemeier Jr., died on Feb. 15 at age 83 after an extended illness. Familiar to Eternal Word Television Network’s international family of viewers, for three decades he had been a faithful servant for Mother Angelica and the mission of EWTN.He is survived by Ramona, his wife of 59 years. He was preceded in death by his son, Rudy Steltemeier III, and daughter-in-law Debra Steltemeier. Funeral arrangements are still pending.Born in Nashville, Tenn., on June 6, 1929, to...

Michael P. Warsaw, President and CEO of EWTN. Washington D.C., Feb 1, 2013 / 01:06 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Eternal World Television Network said today that the new suggested rule on the federal contraception mandate is likely inadequate to protect its religious liberty. “We will continue to study this notice with our attorneys, but are highly doubtful it will provide EWTN with any relief from this immoral mandate,” said Michael P. Warsaw, president and CEO of EWTN Global Catholic Network. Last February, EWTN became the first Catholic organization to file a lawsuit challenging the federal contraception mandate on the grounds...

THURSDAY JANUARY 24, 2013 8:30 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.Prayer vigil at Planned Parenthood 1108 16th St NW Fr. Frank Pavone, Bryan Kemper, Lila Rose, Fr. Terry Gensemer, Kristan Hawkins 12:00 pm- 9:00 pmPro-Life Exhibits Hall Hyatt Regency Hotel [source: Marchforlife.org] 12:00 - 5 p.m.Americans United for Life Legal Conference The Future of Roe: Women, Health and Law in the Obama Era Charmaine Yoest, Bill Kristol, Gerald Bradley and several more National Press Club (advance registration required) Call 202-289-1478 529 14th St NW 11:00 am- 2:00 pmLaw of Life Summit Note: John-Henry Westen of LifeSiteNews will be a speaker at...

The recent comments regarding clerical sexual abuse of minors made by Father Benedict Groeschel to a news editor of the National Catholic Register should never have been published. In no way do those comments reflect the views of the Register or EWTN. It should have been obvious to the editor that Father Benedict's physical condition and mental clarity have deteriorated and that the comments were completely inconsistent with his life's work and witness. We apologize that these remarks were published and ask for forgiveness for this error. To regular viewers of EWTN, it has been evident for some time that...

Cardinal Timothy Dolan in the Vatican's Paul VI Hall after the consistory, Feb. 18, 2012. Washington D.C., Aug 22, 2012 / 05:07 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York, head of the U.S. Catholic bishops' conference, has been invited to offer the final benediction at the upcoming Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla. The news was announced by presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney in an exclusive interview with Raymond Arroyo, host of EWTN's news program The World Over. Cardinal Dolan will give the concluding benediction prayer on August 30, the final night of the GOP...

EWTN Global Catholic Radio Network marked a huge milestone on March 7 to celebrate its 20th year on the air: It added its 180th affiliate when Bishop Cirilo Flores of San Diego flipped the switch to launch KCEO 1000 AM. On hand for the festivities were San Diego Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers, his wife, Tiffany, and attorney Charles LiMandri, the co-chairpersons who helped raise the funds for this new station. The occasion included another milestone, too. This affiliate also is Immaculate Heart Radio’s 26th station that broadcasts EWTN radio programming throughout California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah. Immaculate is...

To help keep the flow of our “dinner conversation,” and at the same time keep you updated with all the Grace Before Meals happenings, I’ll use this E-Blast to give you some great news. First, I’d like to give a response to questions I’ve received – either at the seminary, on the streets, and even in a few e-mails. “What do I think about the recent conversations regarding the HHS Mandate?”(This is definitely deadly breakfast conversation. But we have to talk about it!) This has been a challenging time for people of faith – no matter what faith. The ability...

THIRTY years ago, a cloistered nun named Mother Angelica Rizzo started a small television station in her garage to spread the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. Since then the station, EWTN, has grown into one of the largest Catholic media networks in the world, but we haven’t strayed from our values. And we won’t — even though our commitment has landed us in the cross hairs of the Obama administration. EWTN cannot comply with the recent mandate from the Department of Health and Human Services requiring the insurance plans of all employers, with the exception of some houses of...

Full Article less graphics EWTN Sues Obama Admin EWTN SUES Obama Admin In a remarkable decision, EWTN is suing the Obama Administration over the Contraception Mandate. This extraordinary act, as well as near unanimous outcry from other Faiths, is sparking a Religious Liberty controversy that the Obama Administration, seemed willing to take on. "We had no other option but to take this to the courts," says EWTN President and CEO Michael P. Warsaw. "Under the HHS mandate, EWTN is being forced by the government to make a choice: either we provide employees coverage for contraception, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs and...

TV Network Started by Cloistered Nun Sues Sebelius By Terence P. Jeffrey February 9, 2012 (CNSNews.com) - Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN)--founded in 1981 by Mother M. Angelica, a cloistered Roman Catholic nun belonging to the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration--has filed suit against Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and other senior officials in the Obama administration arguing that a new regulation requiring health-care plans to cover sterilizations and contraceptives—including those that cause abortions—is a violation of the organization’s First Amendment right to the free exercise of religion. “EWTN’s sincerely held religious beliefs prohibit it from providing coverage...

EWTN Sues U.S. Government To Stop Contraception Mandate Network Asks Court to Stop Order to Pay for Immoral Services Irondale, AL (EWTN) – EWTN Global Catholic Network filed a lawsuit February 9 in U.S. District Court in Birmingham, Alabama against the Department of Health & Human Services, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, and other government agencies seeking to stop the imposition of the contraception mandate as well as asking the court for a declaratory judgment that the mandate is unconstitutional. EWTN is the first Catholic organization to file suit since the final HHS rules were published by the Obama administration on...

HANCEVILLE, Alabama, February 9, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Lawyers for the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) say that the broadcasting network has taken the Obama administration to court over a mandate forcing Catholic employers to pay for birth control, sterilization, and abortifacient drugs. The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty announced that it had filed suit Thursday morning on behalf of EWTN, considered the largest religious media network in the world. “The federal government cannot force people to violate their religion like this,” said Mark Rienzi, Senior Counsel at the Becket Fund and a constitutional law professor at the Catholic University of...

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I have now watched all four parts of this series presently on EWTN ( despite EWTN) and have found truly edifying, a most wonderful production all aspects except a the minute allusions to post Vat2 “pontificate”(s) and the like. A traditionalist/conservative of ANY stripe should be able to watch this except for a couple winces. I found particularly moving Part I devoted largely to St. Mary Magdalene. Part III has much on the Vendee counter-revolutionary battles, a real eye-opener for me. It also includes a couple minutes of a Tridentine Rite taped just for the series. Repeat: there are rare...

For many local (Catholic) Southwest Floridians, EWTN, The Eternal Word Television Network, formerly channel 17 in the Fort Myers and Cape Coral area Comcast lineup, was a blessing! It was a place of prayer, a place of solidarity with Catholics all around the world, and it was a place where the family could join together around the television for family Tradition. www.ewtn.comEWTN was especially important for the local Catholic around Christmas, bringing pertinent faith programming concerning the birth of our Lord. How ironic it is that Comcast yanks EWTN right before Christmas season for an extra 'Home Shopping Network,' which proudly displays '58 shopping...