World Over - 2018-03-29 - Full Episode with Raymond Arroyo

catholic youth gathered in rome this week to draft a working document for the upcoming synod on young people what do young Catholics really want from their church the papal posse robert royal and father gerald Murray will join us with analysis and March 27th marked the second anniversary of the death of our dear found wrists mother Mary Angelica will remember her life and legacy with a special world / tribute the world over the Holy Week edition begins right now [Music] now from Washington DC Raymond Arroyo a warm welcome to all of you joining us in the United States and the world over an important world over for you tonight the papal posse Robert Royal father Gerald Murray and a special remembrance of Mother Angelica on the second anniversary of her passing all of that is straight ahead if you'd like to comment on tonight's show you can tweet me at Raymond Arroyo or you can email us at world over at ewtn.com before we start a big book birthday to announce and some news I'm delighted to report that will Wilder to the Lost staff of Wonders is now out in paperback it'll be premiering on April 3rd I know a lot of you like paperback editions and this one comes with an added bonus inside is a special preview of will Wilder 3 and the title reveal what is it will Wilder and I can't tell you yet but you can pre-order this paperback edition of the will Wilder the law staff of Wonders now and get it in time for Easter both books in the will Wilder series are now available in hardback paperback and dramatic audio go to will Wilder books com2 the ewtn religious catalogue amazon or your independent bookseller to order and will Wilder 3 is coming soon stay tuned for that now to some news in spite of the reported imminent agreement between the Vatican and communist China and a lessening of tensions an underground bishop was arrested this week according to Asia news Bishop Vincent wall Xin was detained on Monday to prevent him from celebrating the chrism mass with the underground faithful locals called it a kidnapping according to the report bishop hua had refused to celebrate the chrism ass with excommunicated bishop vincent jean the bishop recognized by the communist regime GAO was released after the scheduled underground chrism mass Bishop hua is one of two underground bishops asked to step aside by the Holy See so that the Communist recognized Bishop can serve as the official diocesan leader recognized by Rome according to a report in the UK tablet bishop gua is reportedly now banned from celebrating any mass as a bishop on the grounds that he is not recognized by the communist government and back in Rome Pope Francis suggested during his Sunday homily that Jesus was the first target of fake news and spin by those who wish to twist his message for their own benefit the comments came in the wake of an embarrassing resignation of the man handpicked by the Pope to spearhead reform the Vatican's media and communication efforts last week Monsignor Dario Vigano resigned as the head of the Vatican Secretariat for communication after being caught spinning some of his own fake news big enogh had selectively released portions of a letter by Pope emeritus Benedict the 16th it gave the appearance that Benedict was endorsing a series of books lending theological heft to Pope Francis and further praising his theological and philosophical formation moreover Vigano was caught having submitted to the press a doctored photo of the letter that concealed its second page in it Benedict had actually said he never read the book series did not plan to read it and he further criticized the selection of one of the theologians who authored the series for his anti papal initiatives neither Pope Francis nor Monsignor vegan Oh have publicly acknowledged any wrongdoing nor has there been a public apology to Benedict or anyone else Vega no in his resignation letter to the Pope vaguely mentions his many controversies that destabilizes the complex and great task of reform which had been entrusted to him by Francis for his part the Pope said he accepted veganize resignation not without some effort he further praised Vega no for his work and is actually retaining him in a newly created Vatican position of Assessor for the Secretariat of communications also during his Palm Sunday homily Pope Francis urged young people not to be silent but rather let their voices be heard even in the face of corrupt or silent elders the Pope's message to awaken the youth came on the heels of a meeting with more than 300 young Catholics at the Vatican a preparation for next October's Synod of Bishops focusing on the youth the Pope said that the temptation to silence young people has always existed there are many ways to silence them to sedate them to make them invisible to keep them from getting involved to make their dreams flat dreary Petty and plaintive but he told youths that you have it in you to shout even if we older people in leaders it's very often corrupt keep quiet here with analysis is the papal posse editor-in-chief of the Catholic thing org Robert royal with me in studio and from Manhattan Canon lawyer and priest of the Archdiocese of New York father Gerald Murray gentlemen thank you both for being here now Robert you just got back from the preparation for this October Youth Synod the Pope had 305 young people around him they consulted with the young people first of all we're gonna get into the document that they produce kind of the preparatory document for the bishops discussion in October why are we listening to young people who really haven't experienced a lot of life or God Franklin well my way of understanding this is I think that Francis likes these processes he talks a lot about starting a process and just see modalities in adalah t and in this particular case I mean I I'm a little bit divided in my reactions on the one hand I just love those young people they're there they're energetic they're enthusiastic they're sincere the other side of it is they know almost nothing about the church about why the church thinks the way that it does and so they put out things that I think the bishops probably already knew but it's part of what Pope Francis I think hopes will be a way of evangelizing that by inviting people to speak to putting up we're not putting up barriers to them immediately on moral questions and on occasional questions that somehow it'll engage them and bring them back into the fold obviously the the concrete suggestions that they make are suggestions that a twenty-something person without understanding the nature of what they're talking about now father Jerry there was a lot of discussion about this naturally the Roman press you know the Vatican press always goes crazy over anything announced they cover it like it's the Olympics but there was a lot of excitement about this the question I have is most of these young people are catechized not by the church but by the world so what what fruit can this dialog this interaction bring forth the dialogue is important if it's a dialogue in which information is being communicated to people who lack it so I'm always suspicious when there's a document with people who don't really know Catholic teaching then tell us that we need to re-examine these teachings in order to be more relevant in the modern age I think the the mission of the church is to communicate the Word of God and it's obvious that that hasn't been very well communicated in the last twenty thirty years to the coming generation so to sit down and I looked at this document and it's very concerning because it's basically rehashing secular criticisms of Catholic morality and then bringing up the subject of why don't we have women priests why isn't there equality in the church this is not what we need to be discussing right now this is basically just continuing what I would say is a revolutionary process that's fomented when we take these questions and treat them as open questions they're not open questions now we're gonna get into some of these open questions as you say this is the pre sonata l-- document uh that these young people produced we'll put it up on the screen i want both of you to react to this the church oftentimes it reads appears as too severe and is often associated with excessive moralism sometimes in the church it's hard to overcome the logic of it has always been done this way we need a church that is welcoming and merciful robert royal you're a reaction I've been in a writer in my entire adult life and for the ten years I've been the editor-in-chief for the Catholic thing and I detect in this text some other hands than those of the twenty year olds there's something else obviously going on here because the language that's being used is language that various officials in the church they've been using look the the long and the short of this is will a process like this actually evangelize the way that father was talking about does it doesn't go out to people as it teach them and that's it bring people in we haven't seen that so far in this papacy is a very different approach to to the rest of the world but like you I believe that these young people have been catechized not by the church but by our culture and if the church seems distant it's not as if as if the church has moved away from where it's always been it's that the culture has moved away and not simply away but it has set itself up in opposition to the church the church is still and we've got to recognize as week is in many ways Catholicism is culturally the church is really still the one institution in the West that stands against many of the developments that would that we see that are progressive and really depart quite far from biblical Christianity both of the Catholic and evangelical and Protestant varieties so it's not surprising that these young people feel that but whether it's the truth whether the church is being moralistic and not you know I'm not receptive I think that that's another judgment that has to be made father Jerry there was the line here we mentioned it a moment ago sometimes in the church it's hard to overcome the logic of it has always been done this way that line that appears in this priests and Ahnold document supposedly from these young people allegedly that was a line Pope Francis used in his opening address to them that we have to get away from this notion that it has always been done this way are we as Robert Royal wrote this week looking at a little bit of ventriloquism here with old Vatican hands using these kids as convenient mouthpieces that's always the suspicion Raymond because young people may not organize their thoughts in the precise language that we just heard you know to talk about churches severe and moralistic I mean that's a complaint I hear constantly usually from people don't accept Catholic morality now my question is when you say things have always been done this way that's not a justification in the history of the church since we're passing on a message given 2000 years ago doctrine practices ways of living they're inherited their cherished and appreciated and in fact you know people who are cultural Catholics they look back on their family formation it's mainly the transmitter of faith through festivals and feasts and beliefs if something has been done away in the church for a long time the presumption is it's a good thing that we need to preserve so you know the logic of it was done in the past it needs to be rejected unless you can explain it to me instantaneously why I need to do it you know that's a formula for chaos I would not agree that young people should be encouraged to say whatever's in the past just put it aside we're gonna give you a new formula today hmm interesting Robert roll you wanted to add yeah I I think the father makes the important distinction here that the the thing that's always been done is if it's based on what Jesus himself in the revelation of God gave us in our Testament and in the life of Christ well that's a that's actually a good thing that that is persisted over 2,000 years now the one thing that we can say that doesn't have to be done the way it always has been done in the past is somewhat at the outrage somewhat the way that you speak to people I was very struck in this document that the young people and maybe it wasn't them again maybe somebody along the way encouraged him to write this but they talked about how in the past the faith was conveyed by the family first of all and then by other institutions like like the local parish and then by the culture more generally they recognized that there's a crisis in the family that often the parishes that they're in are not very dynamic and that the culture is very much set against the faith so they see that those things are now missing the transmission melts that we had in the past they don't have any an idea of how to replace them but they recognize that something is there to be done they don't they don't then take the second step which is maybe we need to find some ways to restore those institutions right that we're the they're irreplaceable who were these people who were these young people who are they where did they come from no they came from all over the world from all over the world they're not all Catholic no not all of them are Catholics summer I think very sincere Catholics and energetic Catholics some are more doubtful there were some non-believers in the mix there were even some Muslims according to what we what was reported on so what you get out of this is kind of an echo chamber of what young people are talking about some of them were closer to the church some of them don't even know anything about the church and in some ways it may be good to get that on the record but I have to think that the bishops of the Roman Catholic Church pretty much know what young people are thinking and why it is that it's been so difficult to retain them yeah I want to put up another full screen this also from that priests a natl document look at this the church can play a vital role in ensuring that these young people are not marginalized but feel accepted this can happen when we seek to promote the dignity of women both in the church and in wider society today there is a genuine problem in society in that women are still not given an equal place this is also true in the church father Gerald Murray your reaction yeah I read that and I was not happy at all I do not accept that characterization of the role of women in the church I think this is a message being given by those who believe in women's ordination that we won't be happy until women can become priests this is not what Jesus Christ established when he founded the church the apostles were gained on Holy Thursday by our Lord as the first priests and the church has always ordained only men now as regards true equality in the church that exists because we're all baptized believers the sons and daughters of God share a radical equality and I would say in my experience as a pastor women do more to promote the mission of the church in the United States than men do I wish they weren't the case but I know when I'm looking for volunteers I'm looking for catechist I'm looking for people to do apostolate the women are much more willing there are a variety of reasons for that but certainly we should never give in to this notion that until women can do everything that a man can do in the church including being a priest or some other is being unfair Jesus Christ was not unfair when he only ordained men he's divine he did what he wanted to do and there's a reason for it now you make a good point I mean God knows two of the best-known Catholics probably the most influential in the twentieth century into the 21st was Mother Teresa and Mother Angelica I mean aside from a Pope that's it and that is a form of female leadership that I think often times the world ignores and these kids don't know anything about and women have a different you know way of looking at perception and bring different energies into the church you know one of the things that happen I don't know how much it was reported here because I was in Rome last week when this was all going on is that there were some father calls them women's ordination people there were actually some women who came along and said we want female Cardinals because Cardinals don't necessarily have to be priests in the past that hasn't been necessarily the case but it's clear that some some groups were seeking around the edges and we've seen this at other synods and preparations for sentence that given what the modern world is it's easy to get a big megaphone when you're over in Rome and something like this is going on it's work it's worth saying that Francis himself however Pope Francis has said that the question of female ordination is closed ok I want to go to this again another full screen there is often great disagreement among young people both within the church and in the wider world about some of her teachings which are especially controversial today examples of these include contraception abortion homosexuality cohabitation marriage and how the priesthood is perceived in different realities in the church what is important to note is that irrespective of their level of understanding of church teaching there is still disagreement and ongoing discussion among young people on these polemical issues as a result there they may want the church to change her teaching or at least have access to a better explanation and to more formation on these questions we the young church ask that our leaders speak in practical terms about controversial sub jerks such as homosexuality and gender issues about which young people are already freely discussing without taboo father Gerald Murray I'll give you first crack at that what do you think this is about right right well you this well this is about promoting a revolution in the church in which sexual morality and Catholic doctrine will be redefined and I say that precisely because you do not call Catholic doctrine a polemical issue if you consider it to be true polemical when you quote something polemic you're basing someone's exaggerating to try and control other people by make you know enforcing his point of view with fear Catholic teaching about sexual morality is rooted in the way we are human dignity the purpose what God created us for and you know let me say this that we need the teaching to be better explained the teaching has been explained magnificently by the Catholic Magisterium in last 30 to 40 years I don't think the problem is the explanations not there people either reject it don't care to read it or are told it's going to change so don't bother you know trying to defend it we do not need a revolutionary movement coming out of ascended on the youth concerning issues that we know are being promoted by secularists and people who think Christian morality is an imposition on man Christian morality is the only way to people be free and be themselves that's that's our message Robert Royal given this given what we just read where do you see this shaping that October Synod does this become the marching orders for the bishops we saw this during the family Senate it wasn't supposed to be about divorced and remarried Catholics getting communion but that's what it really became about and it's a lingering wound and source of confusion throughout the church are we looking at a Morris Latia part to here well it's very possible because there the way that the reasoning is going to take place is going to be again what we're not changing doctrine but we're you know we're past really reaching out to people you know we've talked about the the the deep theological issues many times here in written regard to amoris Laetitia I never get tired of saying if young people are going to dispute the first page of Denis of Genesis male and female he created them and say that somehow that is not operative any longer when our Lord in the New Testament says to the Pharisees you know Moses let you divorce because you were weak but I say to you male and female he created them then he goes on and gives that that teaching if you're gonna reject the documents that tell us what Christianity is where it has begun if Christianity got male and female wrong from the beginning and Judaism and Christianity got that wrong then I don't know what kind of dialogue can go on between people in the contemporary world and the church unless the church wants to just join sort of modern culture in which case it's clear that it will go the way over the liberalizing Protestant denominations which is to say they're all dying the one the ones that survive are the more theologically robust evangelical and some of the smaller Protestant faith groups but otherwise it's just a concession and it we've seen that some elements in and around the Vatican seek to exploit these events precisely for this kind of purpose father Jerry last word on this before I get to some other topics do you see this as a precursor to another amorous Lutetia where we have a a pastoral consideration that takes on doctrinal implications I think Bob's point is very prescient here that indeed people will take the process and turn it away from really talking about young people need to know young people need to know who is Jesus Christ he is the son of God and this is what he taught instead if we have to get into this defensive position which says Catholic teaching on sexual morality is polemical it's not understood it's hard to understand therefore we have to trim it here and there no I'm worried about what can happen and only because as we said with amoris Laetitia CA a Synod on the family got turned into a Walter Cardinal Walter Kasper proposal endorsement that people an adulteress second marriages you freely receive communion to some circumstance that that was not what it was supposed to be about hmm I want to move on letter gate exploded since we were last together papal Posse we saw this doctored photograph of a letter from Pope Benedict that supposedly endorsed well I reported it earlier you know what we're talking about archbishop vegan or Monsignor vegan Oh resigned who was head of the communications office what is the lingering fallout of this and considering the Pope's condemnation of fake news has this really wounded the Vatican's communication apparatus well I mean this is the first of the Pope's close in collaborators actually to be dismissed others like Cardinal Mueller who seem to be in some tension with him have left the scene Cardinal Burke of course mostly the thing I'm most struck about are the two things I'm most struck about about this letter gate controversy is why do it Monsignor Vigo know is not the stupid man but it was a very foolish thing to take a letter from Pope emeritus Benedict setting himself at some distance from these little booklets that came out on theology and then turning it into a kind of endorsement well there are only two reasons why someone would take the great risk of doing this when it's it's very likely to become known we've we've talked about it and lots of others who commented on the Pope we've talked about this first of all they're feeling some nervousness about the the critique that he is not in continuity with his what went before and secondly they're worried about his reputation as being a theologian because he's not really ever been seriously involved in theological thought he's he's got his own kind of pastoral approach but those two things the lack of continuity and the lack of theological depth I think somebody somewhere in the Vatican feels nervous about this and that's why you take this extreme step of misrepresenting something that was supposed to actually be a private letter to make a defense that turns out to actually create more controversy than it solved father Jerry we're see another area where there is a tug of war if you will again it's a it's an attempt to get Mott to my eyes spin reality in one way or the other and you have dueling camps around this Vatican China deal there is a camp within the Vatican saying all is well China is the great exemplar of Catholic social thought and this is the only responsible way to go forward there's Cardinal Zen and others saying no no no this is the end of the underground church now you heard the story I reported earlier on Bishop Wow who was arrested held captive and now released but he's forbidden to say Mass what's going on here and is this another example of the the the Vatican communications apparatus trying to spin something that is not in continuity with with with reality well yes let's unpack this Raymond as regards the Chinese issue I think the Communists recognized weakness they recognized the Vatican wants to deal more than they do so therefore they're going to push as much as they can to enforce their control over the Catholic Church by arresting this Bishop and then freeing him and forbidding him now as regards the earlier comment about months in your vegan oh it's fascinating this Pope wants to have modern communications he set up the Secretariat for communications and then what did we have we had a falsification of a papal communication they only came clean when secular journalists and some religious journals pointed out problems and then they did a drip by drip limited released and and finally put out the whole communications out in public the Pope accepted the resignation but then reappointed this man back to his office me and a lesser role but who knows what it could exactly mean and then let's remember this vegan oh whether he thought about it or not he very much offended Pope emeritus Benedict by doing this and there's been no public apology to know Benedict for this so the impression left here is that this man tried to manipulate it got caught but then he's not really being punished in a way that would recognize the gravity of what happened that is going to hurt the Vatican's credibility with secular median certainly it doesn't help that this was done in an effort as we know to falsify the record about what Benedict thought about one of the authors benedict objected to one of the author's in this series who was in fact a vehement critic of Catholic teaching and why he was included in this group of writings as his name is hunter manager Manoj beyond belief why would you put a dissident theologian in a series published by the Vatican itself very troubling no these are two major black eyes I think for the Vatican's communication apparatus the both this letter gate as well as this ongoing China story because the reality on the ground the reality of a bishop in the underground Church being arrested totally contradicts and undercuts this happy talk that they've been pushing out there meanwhile you've got Zen who they're attacking as well publicly I just I think this does not feel right to a lot of Catholics and to media looking in on this well I mean we're dealing with a totalitarian regime right there president so-called president just ye probably became president for life which is almost a textbook definition of a dictatorship totalitarian regime you cannot be weak with these people all the the former Soviet dissidents who stood up to the Soviet Union back during the Cold War say you cannot gain anything by negotiating in this way with totalitarian regimes you can always lose because they can hold out forever and we've seen it's not simply a question of two opposing views of the world we've seen the Chinese actually put the screws on the church since February right in increasingly difficult ways so I'm very skeptical of what's going forward at this point and the only way to understand this is to look to the people who you trust in the way they judge things and certainly Cardinal Zen and some others who have raised the worries in my mind are the most credible voices yeah well that Bishop we talked about earlier who was arrested this week the man has been arrested 20 times just this year you know last year rather you can't say that this is an anomaly it happens all over mainland China and there is a targeting of the underground church they want to co-opt it into this patriotic Association that's what's happening and I I think I think people undermine their credibility when they try to peddle a false narrative to to create a to create a pathway for a vatican china day taught it's not going to work it won't work china will win and if Donald Trump has taught everybody one thing it is going playing this game you will lose you've got to find another way to disrupt the narrative anyway final comment I want to share this we do this is the Pope during Holy Week he offered this at his Wednesday audience he told the assemble and you're seeing the video here this is a deviation from his prepared remarks and here I have to say something sad and painful there are fake Christians those who say Jesus has risen I have been justified by Jesus I have a new life but I live a corrupt life these fake Christians will have a terrible end a Christian I repeat is a sinner we are all sinners I am one but we are certain that when we ask forgiveness the Lord will forgive us the corrupt person pretends to be an honorable person but in the end there is Putra fication in the heart father Jerry your reaction well those are strong words from the Pope and he certainly is trying to highlight that you should never live a double life you know that you should never be a hypocrite you know pretending to be a devout Catholic and then doing horrible things now the question is what is what is his understanding of corruption as an ongoing state and life because you know the worst sinner can make a confession and then go right to heaven you know if he dies in the state of grace and having all of you know getting a plenary indulgence we believe that redemption can happen pretty quickly so I you know when the Pope goes off the script he basically by saying you're a fake Christian well you know you're a Christian if you're a sinner you may not be a good Christian but you're not you're still a Christian so I understand the what he's trying to get at because there are a lot of people who like to parade around and by the way they're not only those in the Mafia there are other categories so like to say listen to me I know what could the Catholicism it is and meanwhile they under money by the way they live mmm Robert Royal your reaction and look in the pontificate of Mercy this is a this is a kind of discordant note I don't know it sounds very much like Jesus to me I'd like to know who he's talking about yeah it kind of has universal application because obviously everybody is a sinner other than the Virgin Mary alright every human being right but the other thing to me about this is that he seems to be talking about hypocrites and so who are these hypocrites they pretend to be honorable and without sin I don't know too many Christians who will not admit that they're they're sinners it's good in a way that he addresses this to everybody who is perhaps trying to present themselves one way and privately living a different life but I'm wondering why go off-script I'm getting to be very suspicious in my old age and I'm wondering why go off-script and make a point of saying this mr. happy happy Easter to you Robert royal father Jerry Murray thank you both for being with us you can follow Robert Royal and father Jerry's commentary at the Catholic thing dot org as I mentioned earlier two years ago this week on what was Easter Sunday we lost our beloved founders here at EWTN mother Mary Angelica she was the first woman in the history of broadcast to lead a cable network as CEO and host of the flagship show she inspired millions of viewers all over the world with her folks he wit and wisdom and for me she was a mentor and a dear friend after someone dies there's an inevitable revision and selective memory that kicks in as mothers biographer I've labored to preserve the full mother Rita Rizzo unvarnished that's what she wanted that's what I did with both biographies in that spirit here is our special world over tribute to the life and legacy of Mother Angelica take a look mother was born Rita Antoinette Rizzo in Canton Ohio on April 20th 1923 she was abandoned by her father at five and left in the care of may Rizzo her manically depressed mother Rita and her mother's struggled in a ghetto populated by working-class Italians and african-americans she was plagued by disability from the beginning a stomach ailment proved a turning point Rita was having difficulty eating and was diagnosed with Patos as' of the stomach the opening in the stomach was constricted she was losing weight and was very ill her mother took her to visit a mystic a woman named Rhoda wise who claimed to see Jesus and st. Torres when she met with Rita Wise merely gave the girl a prayer card a nine-day novena which Rita and her mother prayed nine days later Rita Rizzo was free of pain and could eat again she fell madly in love with Jesus and at that point knew for the first time that she had a father in heaven if not on earth who cared for her well-being and loved her individually in 1944 Rita secretly entered a Poor Clare convent in Cleveland imagining she would never see the world again then pain intruded in 1953 Joan Frank was working with sister Angelica on the second floor of their monastery when this happened we were scrubbing a hallway in preparation maybe for a feast day or something and instead of just putting the scrubber she sprinkled the floor with soapy water and when the scrubber came onto the soapy water it kicked back and hit her and knocked her over really severely injuring her bag and she was never the same after that walking grew more difficult and sister Angelica underwent numerous surgeries including a major one in 1956 the night before the surgery dr. hall came and said sister when you wake up from surgery tomorrow you might not feel your legs in fact you might never walk again and she says oh that's shrouded her in darkness the thought of never walking again and she said I promised God that if I was able to walk I would start a monastery of adoration that was a promise that promise contained something I discovered years later mother didn't just promise to build a monastery but a monastery to pray for racial healing she grew up witnessing the injustice endured by african-americans in her neighborhood and spiritually sought to fight it she did walk again with the assistance of crutches and a pair of braces leading her to comment years later when you make a deal with God be very specific she wrote letters to several bishops asking for permission to build a poor Clare monastery in their diocese only one Bishop responded the bishop of Mobile Birmingham in 1959 sister Angelica had been invited to establish a monastery in the deep south but how to pay for it here we see the first glimmer of Angelica the entrepreneur she started a mail-order business a fish lure business to be exact run by she and a few nuns that enterprise paid for the construction of the monastery once they got to Birmingham the nuns sustained themselves by roasting peanuts the little old peanut company distributed their nuts to stores and arenas all over Alabama at the same time mother was offering a Bible study to a group of Episcopalian women that expanded to include many others this led to an audiotape ministry where her talks were recorded and disseminated played on the radio and soon she was invited to speak all over the country those talks were electric I want to take Abraham you have any idea when you read that beautiful scripture whoever put guts into it and blood or is it just a little story you read so it wasn't wonderful Abraham had say three cheers to reading nobody did you know what happened to him here's a man 19 years old 19 anybody here 90 years old singing nobody 90 would even come tonight and here's Abraham sitting near his tent probably doting here's a voice - this is Abraham [Music] today bruh ham yeah Abraham you shall be the father of a great nation your shall be the father of a great nation your Sara listening she goes yeah [Applause] you know what she's thinking she's thinking whoever that is doesn't know braverhund police and that's the end of the voice nine years don't you think Abraham wondered if he ever heard a voice don't you think Sarah Oh Sarah must have been something else some women are so naggy I bet she kept saying every three four months and I told ya [Music] Mother Angelica started to appear on Protestant television programs where she became something of a fixture popularity led her to record a Bible series for the Christian Broadcasting Network and her friend Jean Morris and sister Rhea filled her vicar were the crew marketing team and primary supporters by 1978 her television success and the emergence of cable inspired mother to begin exploring the idea of building her own network a Catholic cable enterprise now EWTN was founded as a spiritual growth Network that's what mother said at the time but the culture at large and currents in the church would make it into something much more by the early 1980s the post Vatican two confusion was at Full Tilt traditions were up for grabs devotions were being cast aside talk of women's ordination and inclusive language was all the rage Mother Angelica would have none of it despite her an orthodox approach to business no budgets no long-term plans just a radical dependence on divine providence that God would provide Angelica was quite Orthodox when it came to her faith by the early 1990s she broadcast many endangered devotions the rosary chaplets and the mass all performed with an attention to reverence that was not lost on the growing viewership Mother Angelica was at heart a traditionalist and factions in the Catholic Church were moving in their own direction often battling Pope John Paul the second and taking issue with his teaching in 1993 things came to a head for Mother Angelica she excitedly partnered with the US Bishops Conference to broadcast World Youth Day from Denver but when a woman a mime assumed the role of Jesus in the Stations of the Cross mother had had enough this moment would change her life and the life of her network forever it's blasphemous did you dare try to portray Jesus as a woman you know as Catholics we've been terribly quiet all these years after Vatican Council those beautiful documents inspired by the Holy Spirit they're so beautiful when you read those documents like reading Scripture but they were misrepresented and misper trade and misinterpreted all these years and every excuse like this mime had been blamed on the Vatican documents I'm tired I'm tired of being pushed in corners I'm tired of your inclusive language that refuses to admit the Son of God is a man I'm tired of your tricks I'm tired of your deceit I'm tired of your constantly just making a crack and then the first thing you know there's a hole and all of us fall into it no this was deliberate you made a statement that was not accidental and this is just as much a lie as the lies we got last night I am so tired of your liberal Church in America you see this collar we had this little modern collar so that we would really appeal to this modern world this pagan society am I better now but I'm being realistic we're gonna change it we're gonna look very Roman because I'm making a statement you've hidden your agenda with a mime my agendas not hidden but I've yet to hear anyone contradict you or cross you or say anything to distress you but I'm saying it I'm saying it I say it as an individual who has a right before God to be Catholic and I resent I resent your pushing your ways and your anti-catholic ungodly ways upon the masses of this country live your life live your falsehood live your lies leave us alone do what you want to do you have that privilege from God himself but don't pour your poison your venom on all the church coming out of World Youth Day Mother Angelica would revert to the traditional habit of her youth and double down and her brand of vibrant orthodoxy the activist spirit re-emerged in Angelica she would lobby against the film The Last Temptation of Christ seeing it as blasphemous she fought against inclusive language in the liturgy and agitated on behalf of the unborn despite and mothers activism throughout the 1990s she still knew how to have a good time what do you think Gaza yo yo you know each other this century we do this that century we don't Raymond's with me and it's his birthday do you know what how old are you I'm not telling you how old I am do you want me to tell you how old you look oh you really want to know well guess if it's honest well I'll tell you the truth if you can guess it like God could you be is it that different say you're 30 but no you can't be 30 why not be 40 forty what's wrong with forty I was a bit older than forty it was 40 once I'm not even close to 40 though well how would I know you don't tell me so I'm guessing like all right if you're not 40 and you're not 30 you got to be between 31 oh really 31 that's all you are and I'm agent by the minute I'll never forget I've said it so most of you haven't heard it this woman calls me up and she said oh my husband's living with another publication in my house whoops won't kick him out how are you gonna say that nice you could say well how unfortunate you know why don't you just open the door tell him to leave you can't play it nice not a nice thing so after he said that little I gave her that little advice she said oh I can't maybe you can't they have no place to go well hell is where they're aiming for tell them to go there [Applause] [Music] [Music] why don't you air these people and I said no whoa good I don't think they're Catholic he says by what right do you have to say that I said I own the network and he's dead we you won't always be there and I said blow the damn thing up before you get your hands on it so they caught you on a good day a 1996 trip to Bogota Colombia proved decisive for a mother there she encountered a statue of the Divine Child Jesus the Divino Nino she believed the child Jesus called her to build a temple in his honor and he would quote help those who help you mother the Builder had a new project in the mid-1990s Mother Angelica single-handedly created catholic radio in the united states she made her shortwave radio programming available for free to anyone who would buy a station in the US many responded an EWTN expanded to reach those in cars and homes and workplaces inaccessible via television today there are more than 300 EWTN radio affiliates nationwide in November of 1997 mother continued to advocate for orthodoxy for Angelica the spouse she lived for and loved Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament was not a concept or a theological idea to be considered but a person to be adored and defended this helps to explain her indignation when she read a pastor a letter on the Eucharist by Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles she found the content of the letter to be confusing and vexing she casually referenced this letter at the end of her live show sitting right here one night and accidentally crossed a canonical line the average layperson long forgotten whatever catechism they learned are told that there's no need for confession there's no need for baptism there there's not really a body and blood soul and divinity in fact the Cardinal of California is teaching that it's bread and wine before the Eucharist after the Eucharist I'm afraid my obedience and that diocese would be absolutely zero and I hope everybody else is in that diocese it's zero Cardinal Mahony took offense at those comments and demanded that mother apologize and clarify her statement mother gave it to him so I do want to apologize to the Cardinal for my remark which I'm sure seems excessive but he has asked me for clarification and this is what I would like to do this evening this is my opinion and this is how I saw it when I read it what came through to me with the principal focus in this letter of assembly the concentration on the sembly all the people in the church rather than the Eucharist so I felt the letter was unclear to what the Church teaches about the real presence body soul and divinity of Jesus at one point she raised questions about Cardinal Mahoney's assertion that Jesus's presence was in the simple gifts of bread and wine watch this I'm a simple woman and I don't understand this see so does that mean Christ is present before the consecration in the bread wine is that one of it or doesn't mean that he is present after the consecration well if he's present after the context in what way then he just kind of hop into the bread and wine but it's still red wine or has it become his body and blood when if it's still red wine why would I adore him why would I kneel and prostrate myself between went to bread and wine Cardinal Mahony pursued mother and meant to have her pay a pro for her continued critique of his pastor a letter he demanded a vatican investigation of her community urged other clergymen to encourage mother angelica to publicly apologize to him throughout she refused standing on principle during that very tense time a woman came to pray for mother angelica at the monastery here following her live show one evening and following that prayer session mother's legs were healed for the first time in decades angelica could walk and even dance without crutches or braces you want to dance this dance [Laughter] she always thought that healing was for the people she would say it was a way to build up their faith mother believed it was also a needed shot in the arm during a very dark and trying period in mother's life in the year 2000 to protect her network and at the urging of her closest advisors she resigned from the leadership of EWTN the fear was that her enemies would use her status as a religious to exert control over the network or damage her community though Mother Angelica live continued Mother Angelica CEO came to an end still the stress of church politics the public spat with Mahoney a Vatican investigation and age brought on a mini stroke that caused mother's face to sag and necessitated the wearing of a patch at 78 Mother Angelica wasn't going to let a patch slower down not when there were people in need of her homespun street-smart brand of hope we were together work on our sword today we made your Christmas show right right I thought it was great oh it was great we've a good time oh we had a great time I'll kind of treat yes I was absolutely floored or your amount of knowledge wait wait what's this little what's that I won something you know a little wild I know I thought I would bump it up a bit see what I have to deal with I you never had then on Christmas Eve 2001 in her Chapel where she had gone to welcome her beloved Mother Angelica was felled by a debilitating stroke it stole her speech and nearly killed her over the next 15 years she would live out her mission and continue it in unexpected ways largely in silence mother was once again the silent contemplative she had vowed to be back in 1947 aside from a very few public appearances including the release of her biography mother was largely confined to her cell bedridden on Easter Sunday March 27th Mother Angelica escaped to her reward and she left an incredible and rich legacy her nuns her brothers her shrine and the countless souls she touched and continues to touch today there's much more to say about mother Angelica's hidden years those 15 long years of silence I called it her grand silence and it was she struggled to create new monasteries and strengthened her order it is a tale of heroic acceptance of hardship and suffering for the good of others what a gift it's been for me to not only know her but to fulfill my promise to tell her full story and now it's all out there her whole life was truly a testament to divine providence dear Reverend Mother we miss you may your soul rest in peace but your spirit I'll bet is keeping everyone up there hopping she once said eternity is an extension of what we do here so I know there's a lot of activity and laughter where she is that is all the time we have for now until next week the show continues on Facebook and Twitter like me on Facebook follow me on Twitter the links are at Raymond Arroyo dot-com be sure to join us next week new york times columnist and author Ross Douthat is here to talk about his new book to change the church Pope Francis and the future of Catholicism set your dvrs don't miss a moment until then we'll be scouting the world over for all that is seen and unseen on behalf of the staff and crew of EWTN news thank you for watching I'm Raymond Arroyo from Washington DC [Music] you [Music]

Channel: EWTN

Views: 38,766

Rating: 4.6654544 out of 5

Keywords: WOT, WOT05999

Id: pRFm2FnyaNY

Length: 59min 40sec (3580 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 30 2018