Mother Mary Angelica of the Annunciation (1923–2016,) born Rita Antoinette Rizzo, was a Franciscan nun. She founded EWTN (The Eternal Word Television Network,) the largest U.S. Catholic television network and one of the world’s largest religious media empires.
Born in Canton, Ohio, Mother Angelica joined the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration, a cloistered contemplative Franciscan order in Cleveland in 1944. She was soon transferred (1946) to a new community in Canton. In 1962, she and four other nuns moved to Irondale, Alabama, to establish a new Poor Clares community.
Mother Angelica began EWTN in 1981 in the garage of her monastery in Irondale, Alabama, with $200; she became fascinated with the TV medium after appearing on Pat Robertson’s Christian Broadcasting Network. She hosted her own advice and opinion program, Mother Angelica Live (1983–2001.) At the time of her death, EWTN reached millions of people in 145 countries. EWTN owned 11 TV networks, 300 radio affiliates, the National Catholic Register newspaper, and the Catholic News Agency.
An outspoken traditionalist, Mother Angelica maintained conservative views and opposed many of the changes that followed the Second Vatican Council (Vatican II.) She was a passionate critic of feminists and liberals, who she believed were undermining the church’s authority.
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Mother Angelica
Faith is one foot on the ground, one foot in the air, and a queasy feeling in the stomach.
—Mother Angelica
Wondering Whom to Read Next?
Og Mandino American Self-help Author
Ned Rorem American Composer
Norman Mailer American Novelist
Santha Rama Rau Indian-American Novelist, Travel Writer
Lee Kuan Yew Singaporean Statesman
Thomas Keating American Trappist Monk
Robert L. Bernstein American Publisher, Activist
Joseph Heller American Novelist
Nadine Gordimer South African Novelist
Jeraldine Saunders American Writer, Television Personality