Benedict
XVI holds the paschal candle during the Easter Vigil, at St. Peter's
Basilica, April 7, 2012. Credit: L'Osservatore Romano.
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 EWTN News 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!”
