EWTN Interview with Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger - your comments

I love Fulton Sheen! But in my area EWTN goes off at 21:00 and some Benny Hinn ministries show comes on. My kids get a kick out of all the people falling over and never hurting themselves.

Sinkspur, these are nice Catholic girls! So far, anyway.

One of the most interesting things Ratzinger said was at the end of the interview. He said that the greatest danger to the Church was that it would be remade into a social justice institute - or words in that vein.

I think the Am bishops only tell Rome what they must. They want to look like they are doing a good job.

I wish I could have seen the interview.

I'm wondering about that "loss of faith". If they have no faith at all, they don't even belong in the church and certainly not as clergy. It is more difficult to have the kind of faith where you really know God will help you if you do your best. Problem is there is no iq test for faith so they can't weed them out, as if they would if they are doing a job.

I still think that the clergy don't have to use their faith muscles the way some of the rest of us do. Everything is kind of laid out for them and they simply do not have the basic worries of keeping a roof over their heads and trying to care for dependents.

I know some of them have to have a different kind of faith commensurate with their responsibilities, and a few of them have demonstrated that they do.

One reason I do believe even the worst of them (for example, Porter) still have a modicum of faith is that they continue practicing their religion even after being brought low. So I don't know if I really buy the loss of faith. It seems to be a loss of something else. Like basic values. Even some people with no faith at all have conditioned themselves not to cross certain lines and can be entrusted with great things in the worldly sense.

Pay no attention. I'm just trying to figure some things out for myself.

No one in my parish (priests or the two "helping" nuns) likes EWTN

Yes .... this is true in my parish as well. In fact, my pastor accused Mother Angelica of teaching dissent! When I asked him for an example of anything she said that was not in agreement with church doctrine, he brushed me aside.

None of the bishops have been able to duplicate the success she has had - and her success flies in the face of common wisdom. But you know the ones who hate EWTN sometimes secretly watch EWTN.

The following article, written by Michael Rose definitely drives that point home! It deserves its own thread but best applies to your astute observation, Colleen.

* * *

Mother Angelica: Healed & Reviled
from the March-April 1998 issue

For more than forty years Mother Mary Angelica, foundress and leader of the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) was in constant physical pain because of a chronic spinal condition. Although many of her viewers never realized the extent of her suffering because of the humor and joy she exudes on her weekly television programs, she was encumbered by a back brace, leg braces and chronic asthma.

While praying the Holy Rosary in her office with a recent visitor, she experienced an unusual healing. The visitor asked her to remove the braces from her legs and to try to walk without her crutches. Mother later explained that a heat came over her ankles. "Every time I walked back and forth," she said, "my legs started coming in straight." She was able to walk without her crutches for the first time in over forty years. So too her spinal injury seems to have been fully healed; she no longer needs her back brace. And her asthma? That seems to be gone too, she remarked.

As a young novice, Sr. Angelica was injured in an accident that left her partially paralyzed for a short time and unable to walk without crutches until this year. "I have never asked to be healed. To me it was part of my mission," Mother Angelica stated on one of EWTN’s programs the following day.

Coincidence?
The timing of her unusual, perhaps miraculous, healing is worth noting. For the past few months Mother has been bitterly criticized by members of the Catholic press, bishops, and priests for her public criticism of Cardinal Roger Mahony’s pastoral letter on the liturgy, "Gather Faithfully Together: A Guide for Sunday Mass" (September 4, 1997). In that letter the cardinal encourages Los Angeles Catholics to "celebrate the diverse experiences, cultures, and charisms that assemble around the one table" of the Mass. He offers practical liturgical directives that are, at best, contrary to the spirit of the norms of the Church, and according to some, the liturgical innovations he outlines are likely to cause further confusion about the nature of the Mass, especially the fundamental doctrine of the Real Presence.

On her cable television program, "Mother Angelica Live," Mother expressed her opinion that the cardinal’s letter was an example of the increasing secularization of the Church today, that it confused Catholics about the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, and added, "I’m afraid my obedience in that diocese would be absolutely zero. And I hope everybody else’s in that diocese is zero." Cardinal Mahony responded immediately to her remarks. He demanded a public apology, which Mother delivered the next week. However, the evening that she offered the apology she continued with her critique, calling the letter "confusing." In the text of the pastoral letter "the word ‘presence’ is used," said Mother, "but it never says ‘Real Presence’… it’s a presence of the community, the assembly, the general presence of God in the liturgy, and the presence of the bishop. It doesn’t talk about the presence of Jesus, Body, Blood, Soul, or the transubstantiation."

Cardinal Mahony was not satisfied with her apology; in fact, he was further incensed. This time he not only demanded a retraction from her—he specified the retraction was to be written by her bishop, David Foley of Birmingham, and read on four different occasions—he threatened Mother with legal action by taking counsel with canon and civil lawyers. The cardinal is claiming that no one has the right to criticize his pastoral letter. In his letter to Mother, he referred to Canon 753, which obliges Catholics to respect the teaching office of the diocesan bishop. It also specifies that only the pope may correct a bishop’s teaching. He did not, however, acknowledge Canon 212 which addresses the "right, indeed at times the duty" of the faithful to manifest to the sacred pastors their views on matters which concern the good of the Church, and to "make these views known to all of Christ’s faithful."

A need for clarity
Writing in the Diocese of Youngstown’s newspaper, the Catholic Exponent, Bishop Thomas Tobin stated: "The misunderstanding of Cardinal Mahony’s letter by some reminds us also of the need to be very clear in teaching the Catholic Faith. [The Cardinal] points out that the traditional Catholic doctrine about the Eucharist is contained in the very first footnote of the letter." But Tobin emphasized that "the fact that the primary teaching of the Church about the Eucharist has been relegated to a footnote is itself very disturbing to some… The faithful need and deserve a solid and unambiguous doctrinal foundation on which to build their Christian lives."

Bishop Tobin wondered what drives Mother Angelica and others to be so critical of bishops and cardinals of the Church. "Could it be that some members of the Church have become so outspoken, even defiant," he suggested, "because their legitimate complaints about abuses in the Church have not been taken seriously by Church leaders? Their concern about fuzzy teaching or liturgical aberrations have too often been neglected, sometimes even belittled… Church leaders need to address well-founded complaints seriously, or we will continue to see the marginalization of many good people who just care about the spiritual well-being of the Church."

Many U.S. bishops and priests have not only "belittled" Mother Angelica, they have actively sought to have EWTN’s programming yanked from local cable networks. In 1994, Archbishop Rembert Weakland led the Catholic crusade to rid Milwaukee airwaves of Mother Angelica. Likewise Emil Wcela, auxiliary bishop of Rockville Center led a similar campaign on Long Island, New York. (Weakland’s diocesan newspaper even rejected running a photograph of Mother in an EWTN ad because she was clothed in a traditional habit).

And now Cardinal Mahony has taken his complaints to the Vatican. The National Catholic Reporter (NCR) reported that the cardinal intends to demand fundamental changes in both the management style and the on-air tone of the "controversial Catholic media outlet." NCR quoted Mahony’s director of media relations as saying, "the cardinal wants the Holy See to do something about Mother Angelica’s whole attitude that she is not responsible to the National Conference of Catholic Bishops or to any of the individual bishops. It goes beyond her criticism of the cardinal—it’s about how the network operates and to whom it is accountable."

NCR writes that "Mahony now appears to want more than a retraction from the TV nun. According to sources close to Mahony, he believes EWTN should be reoriented so it plays what he feels is a positive role in the church’s evangelization efforts and cooperates with the U.S. bishops in how it goes about that task."

Clearly then, if what NCR has reported is true, Cardinal Mahony would like to co-opt what Mother Angelica has made successful and turn it into an ecclesiastical mouthpiece for the American-Catholic bureaucracy. EWTN’s straight-up orthodoxy, their reverently-celebrated televised Masses, traditional understanding of Catholic doctrine, culture and discipline has most obviously drawn the ire of not a few American bishops. That is an accomplishment in and of itself, considering that dissident Catholic publications, many of which are bitterly critical of the pope and bishops, continue to publish unfettered by the likes of the certain U.S. bishops in question. In short, EWTN has drawn censure and sanction for teaching as "Catholic" what the Church teaches. The network is not the Church, but an instrument of the Church. Even so, many bishops appear unhappy with this particular instrument.

In January, for instance, Los Angeles Lay Catholic Mission reported on a letter sent to Mother Angelica from Bishop Robert Lynch of St. Petersburg, Florida. Bishop Lynch, former secretary for the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, wrote in his November 19, 1997 letter: "I pray that you will cease these personal and vicious attacks on those whom the Successor of Peter has chosen to lead the Church at this time." The bishop added, "you and your network are not helping me in my office as Shepherd, Pastor and Leader." One might wonder: why the protest from bishops such as Cardinal Mahony, Archbishop Weakland and Bishop Lynch?

Doing the bishops’ job
EWTN is likely the world’s largest religious cable broadcasting network, with more than 1,600 affiliates reaching 54 million homes in 34 different countries. Under Mother Angelica’s leadership, EWTN has accomplished what the bishops of the United States have failed to do—and they have indeed tried and failed: to provide a significant Catholic presence on television. Even so, some bishops are unwilling to admit the accomplishment. Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk of Cincinnati wrote to one St. Catherine Review reader that EWTN is not "Catholic." Rather, he states, "Mother Angelica appears to be pleased by her independence that allows her to criticize bishops that do not agree with her. Many bishops appear to be equally pleased to be independent of Mother Angelica."

More to the point, however, the bishops and Catholic bureaucrats resent her exposing their modernist methods. Mother has always claimed that it is her mission to bring the true light of the faith to the common man, to the broken-hearted who want to hear the unchanging truth of Jesus Christ instead of being subjected to personal speculation, liturgical abuses, doctrinal deviations, and sex education. As Bishop Tobin of Youngstown wrote, "Church leaders need to address well-founded complaints seriously."

In a 1994 interview with Thomas Droleskey of The Wanderer, Mother Angelica "went to great lengths to explain that she loves and prays for the bishops; what angers her is that some of Christ’s shepherds are not faithful to the Holy Father. They remain in communion with him juridically, while doing everything possible to undermine his teaching authority—permitting dissidents to preach, to teach, to write, and to hold positions whereby they can browbeat the ‘little people’ who simply want to lead holy lives… The very ones who say non servium est [I will not serve] to the Holy Father expect absolute, unyielding obedience to their edicts. ‘That’s the wrong type of obedience,’ Mother Angelica declared. ‘Souls are being snatched by these wolves, preying upon people brought up to obey.’ But one ‘who is not in union with the Magisterium must not be obeyed!’" How many American bishops, one wonders, would approve of St. Catherine of Siena were she to live today as a so-called "TV-nun?"

Well done faithful servant?
There are perhaps many conclusions that can be drawn from Mother Angelica’s unusual healing, especially considering that it occurred after forty years of great suffering, during a time when a prince of the Church is appealing to Rome to have her censured and punished. One possible conclusion is that Christ has rewarded Mother for her commitment to the truth. Might He be saying, "Well done faithful servant"?

But others, those who hold Mother and her network in contempt, will busy themselves trying to explain away the unusual occurrence. Tricia Hempel, editor of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati’s Catholic Telegraph wrote in her Feb 20 issue that her paper will not report on Mother Angelica’s healing until it has been ruled a "miracle" by the proper Vatican congregation. Even the U.S. bishops’ agency, Catholic News Service (CNS), prepared a full page story on the remarkable incident. Although the Catholic Telegraph uses the CNS service, they chose not to publicize the healing. Other diocesan papers, however, did run the story.

This is not surprising. The same editor, Mrs. Hempel, once told this writer that she isn’t going to give Mother Angelica any more publicity than she already gets. "She’s got more money than God!" complained Mrs. Hempel.

The cause of the EWTN success
Mother Angelica does not attribute her network’s great success to her own talents and persistence—although many others would; she gives all the glory to God, the prayers of her community, and perpetual adoration of the Blessed Sacrament at her monastery in Irondale, Alabama. Indeed the two pillars of EWTN’s efforts are profound Eucharistic piety and a great devotion to the Mother of God. Mother’s sisters, brothers and priests are first and foremost contemplatives. Their vocation is to the religious life. Their mission is to bring true Church teaching to the common people through the media.–Michael S. Rose

For an excellent critique of Cardinal Mahony’s pastoral letter on the liturgy, see the ADOREMUS Statement on "Gather Faithfully Together" in the November, 1997 issue of the ADOREMUS Bulletin (www.adoremus.org): P.O. Box 5858, Arlington VA, 22205.

Copies of Cardinal Mahony’s pastoral letter, "Gather Faithfully Together," are available for $5 from Liturgy Training Publications, 1800 N. Hermitage Ave., Chicago IL 60622-1101. It is also available on the World Wide Web: http://www.la-archdiocese.org

Due to circumstances beyond my control (it's been a looonnnggg week), I missed the interview last night. I'm wondering if it will be re-aired. Sometimes they are.

As for the jealousy of Mother Angelica's success - typical liberals. The bishops don't want anyone questioning them. They're leading in the opposite direction from the church and they know it and they don't want anyone exposing it. I've heard that Mother Angelica is dangerous in my own house, from the person who always stops to watch Bishop Sheen re-runs. To my knowledge our bishop has never said anything disparaging about EWTN, but then he's been interviewed by Arroyo and others more than once.

I did not know about Mother Angelica being healed. I am so very happy for her. It's shameful that there are newspapers that won't report it. Shameful, but I'm afraid way too common.

Anyone who can annoy the likes of Mahony, Weakland, and Lynch has my admiration! LOL! These bishops would feel very much at home with bishop Robinson of ECUSA.
The church they are trying to remake in their image is as bland and lacking in substance as Knox gelatin. Mother Angelica offers an orthodox Catholicism of substance and truth. It is very revealing that her worst critics are the likes of these three bishops.

If Mother Theresa has had a miraculous healing and is able to walk without crutches or braces for the first time in 40 years, why hasn't this been all over the media. It's a miracle!

Oh...wait a minute.

Forgot what planet I was on.

Never mind.

Oh, and, does anybody know where there's more information on this healing?

"Anyone who can annoy the likes of Mahony, Weakland, and Lynch has my admiration!"

Wouldn't it be wonderful to have a job that involved annoying them on a daily basis?

It is not a co-incidence that "fidelitas" (Fidelity) comes from the root: fides (Faith.)

It is ALSO not a co-incidence that Abp Dolan keeps screaming "FIDELITY"--which, to all but the obtuse (and they are legion up here) means FAITH! THE FAITH!

Oh, Thomas Sweetser

He was a scholastic (not-yet-ordained Jebbie) and taught one of my classes at Marquette High.

Rather odd fellow then--and nothing has changed, I see.

***Wouldn't it be wonderful to have a job that involved annoying them on a daily basis? ***

Hey, that's why I should be elevated. When the white smoke goes up, send me your resume!

- Pope Piel

I think the Am bishops only tell Rome what they must. They want to look like they are doing a good job.

No, actually, they lie a lot.

Case in point: "standing" for Communion.

The American Bishops told Rome that "everybody" in the USA stands to receive Communion-- a lie on its face because in Milwaukee, at our NO parish, the communion rails are intact and HEAVILY used.

Be that as it may, the American Bishops LIED about the item because they conveniently forgot to tell Rome that they had ordered or tacitly cooperated in removing all the Communion rails, thus FORCING people to stand.

Not the first time, certainly not the last time, that these characters pulled this kind of stunt.

That Canon lawsuit will be sitting in a pile of "to be done" items at the Rota until, ohhh, the year 3005.

Weakie failed to get EWTN off the Milwaukee cable, too.

Oh, and, does anybody know where there's more information on this healing?

Sure ... and I thought this was common knowledge. Here you go:

Catholic World News

St. Catherine Review (this is the story printed above).

BTW, EWTN has reruns of her program, now entitled "The Best of Mother Angelica Live". Mother suffered two strokes toward the end of last year, and is experiencing a speedy recovery. Many fans believe their prayers are being answered. I suppose the elation of certain bishops has been short lived. Father Mitch Pacwa took over for her but he is no "Mother Angelica".

Are you familiar with the TRUE story of where the tv transmitting satellite dish was placed? It's awesome!! Only Mother could get away with something like this. If anyone doubts that God has a sense of humor, this story will convince them otherwise.

It's sneaky how they implemented things. Being a convert, I don't know how things were much before 1988, but I have never been in one parish where they receive kneeling and I went to several around town daily.

Surprisingly, the marble altar rail is such a part of the liberal church where I converted they hardly dare remove it, but they did turn a baptismal into a fountain for the outer court. I never saw anybody kneeling there to receive communion. Everybody around here receives standing unless you are sickly and in the front pew then you can receive sitting or kneeling. I had to get out of there but not because of the fountain or standing. That was done later and was kind of neat. Gathering area I guess it's called. It felt kind of like a huge conservatory.

Neither here nor there, but the new parish I chose built a huge new parish center attached to the church. They bought up property and tore down a house and closed off the street. They had to get permission to do that, but it made the neighbors mad. I can't say that I blame them because they didn't say any say over the change except for the signs in their front yards in protest.

So that's how they do things, I guess. Very authoritarian when it suits them, until it comes to obeying Rome and liturgical norms :-).

Most priests that I have met in this diocese either ignore EWTN or make disparaging remarks.

Same here and in most dioceses. And here is why! See my post #23.

I missed the interview last night. I'm wondering if it will be re-aired.

From EWTN's web site:

The World Over with Raymond Arroyo Airs Live - Friday at 8pm ET

Re-airs:
-- Sunday at 5pm ET
-- Monday at 10am ET
-- Monday at 11 pm ET

Just came across this priest's homily in which he describes Mother Angelica's healing.

So, I thought I would tell you a story of a real miracle that happened just this past week. And those of you who know me know that I wouldn't make something like this up - this is a true story hot off the presses, as it were. Last fall, I had the opportunity to go to Birmingham, Alabama and visit Mother Angelica's television station called EWTN, the Eternal Word Television Network. I was there with my good friend, Fr. Larry, who was going to appear on one of her live programs to talk about the Archdiocese of Atlanta's Eucharistic renewal. If you've never heard of Mother Angelica, her story is a remarkable one. As a young nun, 40 years ago, she injured her spine in an accident and was crippled. Faced with life-threatening surgery, she prayed simply, "Lord, if you get me through this, I will build a monastery in the South." She made it through the surgery, but remained crippled. And for the last 40 years, she couldn't walk without wearing braces on her legs and back and using crutches. Nevertheless, she still founded the monastery and convent, in the heart of the Bible Belt, and it is thriving today. EWTN is perhaps the most effective instrument of Catholic communication in the world, with a 24-hour satellite TV network, a short-wave radio station, and the best Catholic web site on the Internet, www.ewtn.com. They had great coverage of the Pope's visit to Cuba, which was a miracle in itself.

Well, when I met her last Fall, I was touched by her for two reasons: first, though she has a reputation for being outspoken and feisty, telling it like it is, she is the sweetest lady you will ever meet. Second, she is sweet and kind despite her injury, which was obviously causing continuous pain. Her "handlers" tried to stop her from moving about and talking to people, but she did it anyway, despite the pain and discomfort that it caused her to pose for pictures and stand to talk to groups of people.

This past Thursday, I visited my mother on my day off, and she has a satellite dish for the sole purpose of getting EWTN and being able to watch Mother Angelica. Late in the afternoon, we received a phone call from a friend of ours in Birmingham, who told us that we had to watch the show that night at 8 o'clock. So, we dutifully turned on the TV, and there, on live satellite TV, was Mother Angelica dancing without braces or crutches. She had been completely healed. It was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen.

Apparently, the night before, a woman from Italy simply asked her if they could pray together. So, they prayed a rosary, during which the woman prayed for Mother's healing. And within five minutes, she could walk again without braces or crutches. Mother said the only thing she felt was a warm feeling in her legs. The next morning, she placed the now useless braces and crutches in front of the Tabernacle during morning Mass as a sign of thanksgiving to the power of Jesus.

Why was she healed? Mother says that, in all those 40 years of being crippled and experiencing daily pain, she never prayed for healing. Instead, she simply offered up her suffering for others and accepted it as best she could. Why was she healed? Mother speculates that perhaps she was healed to be a sign to others of the healing power of Jesus, which he manifested through the beauty of the rosary.

Homily from Fr. Paul D. Williams, Jr.

Everytime I read or hear that a bishop said that standing for Communion is the "norm"in the USA I can feel my blood pressure starting to rise. Of course it's the norm! Like we were given a choice and chose standing over kneeling. One Sunday we came to church and the Communion rail was gone and we were told to stand. Yeah, it's the norm all right.