Eternal Word Television Network
The Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) is an American television network which presents around-the-clock Catholic-themed programming. Regular programs include a daily Mass, a taped daily praying of the Rosary, and daily and weekly news, discussion, and educational programs for adults and children. Christmas and Easter programming; the installation Masses of bishops and cardinals; coverage of World Youth Days; and papal visits, deaths, funerals, conclaves, and elections are also presented. EWTN also has a presence on satellite and shortwave radio. Spanish language broadcasts are available on all platforms. On December 8, 2009, EWTN began broadcasting in high-definition. They publish the National Catholic Register newspaper, which was acquired in January 2011.
The network maintains a web presence through its primary website, EWTN.com, and it also has a dedicated e-commerce site, EWTNReligiousCatalogue.com.
EWTN was founded by Mother Mary Angelica of the Annunciation, PCPA in 1980 and began broadcasting on August 15, 1981 from a garage studio at the Our Lady of the Angels Monastery in Irondale, Alabama, which Mother Angelica founded in 1962. She hosted her own show, Mother Angelica Live until suffering a major stroke and other health issues. Repeats now air as either the Best of Mother Angelica Live or Mother Angelica Live Classics. She now leads a cloistered life at the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Hanceville, Alabama and rarely appears on television in new programming.
EWTN has occasionally been the subject of criticism for its social, political, and theological positions. In 2000, the Holy See ordered an apostolic visitation to investigate the network. Believing that it could possibly endanger the network's independence and rather than risk it being placed under ecclesiastical control, Mother Angelica turned EWTN over to a board of governors composed exclusively of lay people, which assured its independence from the Holy See. The current president is Michael P. Warsaw. 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 for donations is "Keep us between your gas and electric bill". In 2006, author Christopher Ferrara wrote the book, EWTN: A Network Gone Wrong which criticized the network following Mother Angelica's ceding of control. Ferrara wrote: "...the original vision of the network as a counter-Modernist force for a Catholic restoration was quickly lost".
Read more about Eternal Word Television Network: Development of EWTN, Radio, Newspapers, News Coverage, History of Programming, Apostolic Visitation, Viewership Statistics, List of EWTN Programs, EWTN Family Celebrations
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