Benedict
XVI responds to Mother Angelica's death
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Vatican
City, Mar 28, 2016 / 02:54 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Benedict XVI had a special response to Mother
Angelica’s death falling on Easter Sunday: “it’s a gift.”
Archbishop
Georg Ganswein, Benedict’s personal secretary, told CNA about the Pope
emeritus’ comment March 28.
Mother
Angelica, an Ohio-born Poor Clare nun, founded EWTN Global Catholic Network in
Alabama in 1981. It has since become the largest religious media network in the
world. She passed away March 27, Easter Sunday, at the age of 92.
Her death
prompted memorials, eulogies and remembrances from around the world.
In Rome,
Monsignor Dario Vigano, prefect of the Secretariat for Communications, pledged
that he would pray for the repose of her soul. Many other priests, religious,
and laity in Rome are praying for her.
Archbishop
Joseph Kurtz of Louisville, president of the U.S. bishops' conference, said
Mother Angelica was an “extraordinary woman, devout believer and media
pioneer.”
“Mother
Angelica reflected the Gospel commission to go forth and make disciples of all
nations (Mt 28:19), and like the best evangelists, she used the communications
tools of her time to make this happen,” he said March 28. “She displayed a
unique capacity for mission and showed the world once again the vital
contribution of women religious.”
Archbishop
Kurtz praised Mother Angelica’s role in founding EWTN, Our Lady of the Angels
Monastery, the Franciscan Missionaries of the Eternal Word, the Shrine of the
Most Blessed Sacrament, and the Knights of the Holy Eucharist.
“Her
work, begun in the cloister, reached across the globe. She was a convincing
sign as to how even the humblest of beginnings can yield abundant fruit.”
Kristina
Arriaga, executive director of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty,
remembered the nun as “a shining example of courage and faith.”
“We mourn
her loss, but her legacy lives on in EWTN and in the lives of all those she
touched,” Arriaga said.
The
Becket Fund is defending EWTN in its legal fight against the federal
government’s requirement that its insurance coverage include drugs and
procedures that violate Catholic faith and morals, including provision of drugs
that can cause abortions. Refusal to comply could result in heavy fines. A U.S.
Supreme Court decision in June could impact the fate of Mother Angelica’s
network.
Other
Catholic bishops reflected on the nun’s life.
“In
founding and growing EWTN into a major media resource for the global Church,
she achieved things almost everyone thought impossible,” Archbishop Charles
Chaput of Philadelphia, a past EWTN board member, said March 27. “She will be
sorely missed, but she has left us an on-going gift in the men and women who
continue the great service of the EWTN apostolate.”
Bishop
Robert Barron, an auxiliary of Los Angeles, remembered Mother Angelica as “one
of the most significant figures in the post-conciliar Catholic Church in
America.” She was “the most watched and most effective Catholic evangelizer of
the last fifty years.”
He said
that during the 1980s and 90s, some of her critics mocked her as a “crude
popularizer,” an “arch-conservative,” and a “culture warrior.”
“And yet
while her critics have largely faded away, her impact and influence are
uncontestable. Against all odds and expectations, she created an evangelical
vehicle without equal in the history of the Catholic Church.”
Bishop
Barron praised Mother Angelica for “her trust in God’s providence, her keen
sense of the supernatural quality of religion, and her conviction that
suffering is of salvific value.” He lauded her emphasis on prayer, liturgy, the
sacraments, the saints, Eucharistic Adoration, and spiritual warfare.
“Mother
endured tremendous suffering, both physical and psychological, most of her
life, and she appreciated these trials as opportunities for spiritual growth,”
he said.
The
bishop granted that Mother Angelica would have recognized she was not perfect.
Sometimes her comments were “insufficiently nuanced and balanced,” while her
“hot temper” could lead her to characterize her opponents unfairly.
However,
the bishop said Mother Angelica will have “a very honored place” in Catholic
history.
Bishop
Robert Baker of Birmingham, the diocese where EWTN is headquartered, said
Mother Angelica was a pioneer in using the media as a force for good.
“Her
greatest gift was her strong reverence for the Lord of the Holy Eucharist and
devotion to the Blessed Mother,” he said March 28.
“Mother
Angelica has left the Church and world a great legacy through her Eternal Word
Television Network and family, which have brought a multitude of people closer
to the Lord and his Church,” he continued.
“How
providential that her death occurred on Easter Sunday, our celebration of Our
Lord’s victory over sin, suffering and death!”
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