St. James states it is a “poor parish”

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National Catholic Register is part of the EWTN network.  The following citation from Wikipedia concerns ETWN

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Eternal Word Television Network

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

Launched
1981

Headquarters
Irondale, Alabama, United States

Website
EWTN.com

EWTN Radio Network
EWTN.com station list

 

The Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) is an American cable television network which presents Roman Catholic-themed programming. It was founded by Mother Mary Angelica of the Annunciation, PCPA in 1980 and began broadcasting on August 15, 1981 from a garage studio at the Our Lady of the Angels monastery in Irondale, Alabama, which Mother Angelica had also founded in 1962.

EWTN originally aired four hours of programming per day; it began broadcasting around the clock in 1987. Shortwave radio station WEWN was established in 1992, and, in 1996, they began broadcasting on AM/FM radio. EWTN also has a presence on Sirius Satellite Radio and offers Spanish language broadcasts on all platforms. High-definition broadcasts began on December 8, 2009.^[1] EWTN is a member of the World Catholic Association for Communication.^[2][3]

In addition to regular programs such as a live daily Mass from the Our Lady of Angels Chapel (located on the monastery property) and a taped daily praying of the Rosary led by Mother Angelica and other nuns of her order, the Franciscans^[4], EWTN presents a variety of daily and weekly news, talk, and educational programs for adults and children. Special programming, such as holiday-specific programming and the recent beatification of Blessed Pope John Paul II, is presented. Mother Angelica herself hosted her own show, Mother Angelica Live until a series of health issues, including her second major stroke, forced her to curtail her schedule. Repeats of the show air as either the Best of Mother Angelica Live or Mother Angelica Live Classics).^[5] She leads a cloistered life at the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Hanceville, Alabama, and rarely appears in any new programmings.

EWTN has occasionally been the subject of criticism for its largely conservative social, political, and theological positions. In 2000, the Holy See ordered an apostolic visitation to investigate the network. Believing that it could possibly endanger the network's independence and rather than risk it being placed under ecclesiastical control, Mother Angelica turned EWTN over to a board of governors composed exclusively of lay people^[6], which assured its independence from the Holy See. The current president is Michael P. Warsaw.^[7] While the network has trustees, it does not have shareholders or owners. A majority of the network's funding is from viewer donations. Its traditional plea for donations is "Keep us between your gas and electric bill".^[8]

 

Mother Angelica made her profession of vows in 1953. In 1962, she established the Our Lady of the Angels monastery. During the 1970s, she was an in-demand lecturer and produced educational pamphlets and audio and video tapes. She had been a guest on local station WBMG (currently WIAT, Channel 42), and on shows on the Christian Broadcasting Network and the Trinity Broadcasting Network. After she gave an interview on then-Christian station WCFC (Channel 38) in Chicago, she decided she wanted her own network. "I walked in, and it was just a little studio, and I remember standing in the doorway and thinking, 'It doesn't take much to reach the masses'. I just stood there and said to the Lord, 'Lord, I've got to have one of these'".^[9]

Mother Angelica purchased satellite space and EWTN began broadcasting on August 15, 1981 with four hours of daily programming, which included her own show, Mother Angelica Live (aired biweekly), a Sunday Mass, and reruns of older Catholic programs such as Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen's Life Is Worth Living. The remainder of the time was filled with shows produced by dioceses across the country, shows from Protestant sources which Mother Angelica determined were in concert with Catholic teachings, and children's shows such as Joy Junction and The Sunshine Factory. About one-third of programming time consisted of secular content, such as re-runs of The Bill Cosby Show, public domain films, and cooking and western-themed shows. ETWN eventually increased its broadcast schedule to six hours per day and then to eight hours per day by 1986. Secular content was gradually reduced from 1986 to 1988, and satellite distribution was expanded late in 1987, after which EWTN acquired a far more desirable satellite channel and began broadcasting around the clock. At this point, EWTN began broadcasting the praying of the rosary daily basis and added a number of educational shows. In-house production of original programming gradually increased. The Mass became televised daily in 1991 from a chapel on the monastery grounds. Most shows from non-Catholic sources were eliminated and a more theologically conservative image gradually developed.

[edit] Radio

Main article: WEWN

In 1992, EWTN established the largest privately-owned shortwave radio station, WEWN, in the Birmingham area.^{[citation needed]}

In 1999, programs included "Mother Angelica Live" and "Life Is Worth Living" with Fulton J. Sheen. WGSN in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina was an affiliate.^[10]

In 2004, EWTN announced an agreement with Sirius Satellite Radio which has since merged with XM Radio to become Sirius XM Radio.

[edit] Newspapers

Main article: National Catholic Register

In January 2011, EWTN acquired the National Catholic Register, a newspaper founded in Denver, Colorado in 1924 as a periodical for local Catholics and which became a national publication three years later. EWTN officially assumed total control on February 1.^[11]