Don't misunderstand this as an attack on EWTN, which reportedly has good programs, although, not having a TV, I haven't been privy to them. Rather, this is the back story on what happened to Mother Angelica when she began openly criticizing corruption in the hierarchy, and what subsequently happened at EWTN after Mother Angelical was forced to retire as head of the network of which she was herself the founder.
Turn up the volume when you come to the part where Mother Angelica herself is speaking [beginning at 3:54 on the time marker]. It's well worth taking a good listen.
Sequel [Mother Angelica speaks beginning at 8:39 on the time marker]:
Yet another sequel [Here is Mother Angelica on a roll. The question to ask yourself is: who does she mean by "you" and "your" in here severe denunciations here? Amazing.]:
Related: C. A. Ferrara, EWTN: A Network Gone Wrong
(Good counsel Publications, 2006). [Here, too, you shouldn't understand this as an attack on what is clearly good in EWTN programming, but an expose of what happened when Mother Angelica was forced out in 2000.]
15 comments:
How come Voris videos get 3-5 times as many views on youtube as EWTN programs on youtube? That should sound alarm bells at EWTN headquarters. By youtube standards, both Voris and EWTN fare poorly.
Bless her heart. Although, I do quibble with her assessment of the V II documents themselves. Far from "beautiful," they are a convoluted mix of ambiguities sprinkled with just enough orthodoxy to flavor the relatively empty calories.
Michael Voris is right to commend Mother Angelica for standing up to the bishops, just like he does. however, that's not going to get the job done. Who appoints the bishops? The very man Voris refuses to criticize. Mike can criticize the corrupt bishops until the cows come home, but until the Pope starts disciplining, and removing them, nothing will change. But how can they change when the man at the top himself is a person who shows no respect for his own church's faith and traditions? And it show's in the men he appoints to the office of bishop. Nope, until the Voris's of the church confront the man who bears the ultimate responsibility for the mess we're in, more Mother Angelica's will be thrown under the bus by these men.
Mr. Dalton I agree with you. In fact, that's exactly why I quit watching Voris. When I saw him strain and contort over and over to avoid even entertaining the possibility that the Pope had said something, well, a little off, I knew that he wasn't as "bold" as he pretends to be.
Mother's "I'm so sick of the liberal Church" rant in video one was priceless!
Yes, does Michael Voris really not see that what he denounces EWTN for, applies equally to him and his Church Militant TV in respect of its failure to speak up in defence of the Faith against the constant attacks on the Faith and the Moral Law by Pope Francis?
Mr. Dalton, and Lynda,
I quite understand your point; although, as a good ol' southern' boy would remind you, there's more than one way to skin a cat.
PP, I suppose there is more than one way to skin a cat, but a fish starts rotting from the head down. Voris and his supporters willfully refuse to see this, so they won't criticize the Pope. Voris, IMO, is a revert who is weak in his faith. He should be focusing his faith on Jesus Christ, not the man in Rome.
Voris is right! We cannot part with Rome, the Pope is under the auspice of the Holy Spirit. We have the promise of Jesus, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, that "the gates of Hell" will not prevail against her. Well, the gates are upon us, so why not let God do His job and quite acting like it is up to us to fix the mess. Is that not the very stuff of idolatry and pride? Every heretic in the past has parted from Rome-this is something we can never do.
Tess208
Steve Dalton: "Who Appoints the bishops?"
It is not "Who appoints the bishops?" It is "Who is not taking their red hats back?" Jesus told Judas to get going and keep going, never inviting Judas back. Judas got the message.
If I can weigh in here, I would suggest some misunderstandings may be in play. First, there appear to be some who think that criticizing unhelpful and confusing statements by the pope is tantamount to "leaving Rome," schism, apostasy, or sedevacantism. That is surely not the case. It is our bounden duty to Christ our King to respectfully demur when the Holy Father utters non-magisterial nonsense or things that clouds the clarity of Church teaching with confusing statements that leave pro-abortionists and homosexuals applauding.
The flip side of this is the equally faulty assumption that in order to "hold fast to Rome" we must nod our heads and applaud every careless remark spoken by the Holy Father.
In the case of Voris, too, there could be some problematic assumptions. Whatever his reasons for placing the Holy Father "off limits" to criticism, that is his right and may be based on good prudential reasons, such as not pushing over the brink people who ARE saddled with the misunderstanding that to criticize anything the pope says would mean to "break with Rome."
Moreover, Voris is doing a lot of good work. The fact that he doesn't criticize the pope doesn't mean he is blind to the problems in the Church hierarchy. Who has done more to bring greater clarity to what has been happening in the Church over the last decade to a wider audience? I would be a little less hasty than some of you to pull my support for Voris and impute a defect of faith and understanding to him. But that's just me.
Let me be measured here in what I say. Michael Voris is a fellow parishioner of mine. I know him, and enough about him to know that I would never say some of the things I've heard said about him here; and I do find myself a trifle dumbfounded to hear some of you say you've stopped listening to his programming because he won't criticize the pope. Have you thought about just how ... that sounds?
PP, you asked "just how...that sound?" because some of us refuse to listen to Voris because he refuses to criticize the Pope. Well, here's my take on it.
Many years ago, I was a member of a religious cult. you were not allowed to criticize the leader because he was 'God's Apostle'. It didn't matter if you saw absolutely wrong things going on right in front of your eyes, and that the cause of them could be traced back to the man at the top. He was 'special', a word Voris used in one of his silly don't criticize the pope Vortexes. Yeah, the 'Apostle' was sooo special. He allowed his ministers to oppress the church members with guilt trips about not giving enough money to the church, not being good enough parents, not keeping their homes in good condition, not keeping their families in subjection (meaning to oppress their families like the church was doing to them). All the while, Mr. Special was living a life of luxury and license at our expense. Alcoholism, sexual perversions including incest, fancy homes and autos, a private jet, and many other things were a part of that lifestyle. Yet, no criticism was allowed, he was God's Apostle! If Voris want to close his eyes and put his fingers in his ears, and say "na na, na!" in refusing to criticize the pope, he's free to do so, but how dare he tell me that I have to do the same because the pope is 'special'. Sorry Michael, but my cult experiences taught me a bitter lesson about the dangers of 'special people'. You are putting people in a position where they will have to choose between blind faith in a man, (you and the current pope) or an intelligent faith where one trusts in Jesus Christ and follows church leaders only as they themselves follow Christ. So, until Voris stops what I consider cultic nonsense, he won't ever get another penny from me.
In the current struggle, even if Voris errs on the side of Papal veneration, he is still a godsend in my book. I just hope Rome does not continue to push the envelope to the point that such deference boomerangs into disillusionment or lost faith. In reference to Dalton's comment, though, I get it. I attended a priest's parish class when I was converting, and the way all the Catholics listened to the priest and drank up very word he said like they were clone robots and Stepford wives, without even asking the most natural of questions, was jaw-dropping after being in a mainline church. It reminded me very much of a cult. If would be unhealthy of the priest was spot on. Given the fact so many aren't, it's scandalous in its own right.
There certainly does seem to be an awful lot of b.s. that a disciple of Jesus Christ and child of Mary must endure in order to stay faithfully aware of the wide differences of opinion within the Catholic Church.
ChurchMilitantTV, The Remnant, EWTN, the Catholics at Patheos, and on and on and on and on when it comes to internet and media sources.....and add to that what goes on in the local diocese, the things we read and hear from the national conference of bishops, or from the "traditional" priests, or from the "liberal" priests,
and so on and on and on and on....
And with all of the above usually counting on what they do to provide them with some sort of primary livelihood. Seriously, how many times have you been pitched for monetary donations just so far in this new year? :) We're about 35 days into 2015 and more than likely if you've taken notice, you've been hit up for cash in your email several times, not to mention every time you watch or read something about the faith on the internet, and all the rest of the folks out there who rely on the sale of something Catholic to make a buck.
And I notice, too, that most of them seem to be doing pretty well, some of them supporting large families with your contributions, or traveling the world on the donors' dimes, well, you know, living the good life. :) Reaping the rewards of their good work for the Lord.? Most of the lot of them. From every angle and end of the spectrum of ideas apparently all truly and faithfully Catholic. :) They are all the little or large group that is truly and faithfully Catholic, the one you should send your money to.:)
And so I, for one, am looking forward to Our Lord's rant this Sunday as we hear how he drove the money-changers out of the temple. :)
We've turned the faith into a money-making passion, and for the most part it certainly is beginning to look like we adhere mainly to a Joel Osteen-esque school of theology, where our Father is sugardaddy to us all. And I mean dollars and cents and nice clothes and things, and human respect and just all that our lil' ol' hearts truly desire.
We certainly are a proud and silly bunch of sinners. Think maybe I'll hang on to the penny or two I have left, and drop them in the poor box at the cathedral.
Come Lord Jesus. And make sure to bring the whip, will you? It might be good to see some tables flying, too.
Say the Rosary, pray the Rosary, live the Rosary, love the Rosary. Lord Jesus Christ, meek and humble of heart, make my heart like unto Thine.
pax.
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