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EWTN began in 1981 and transmits 24 hour programming to 118 million homes in 127 countries and 16 territories on Cable , satellite, and Low-power TV . EWTN offers a wide variety of Catholic themed programming. This includes Daily Mass from their Irondale Monastary/Studios, talk shows such as ''EWTN Live'' and ''Sunday Evening Live'', ''Daily Rosary'', Benediction , teaching programs, entertainment/variety shows, children's programming, live coverage of world Catholic events such as Bishops' conferences and Papal travels, Music shows, Youth programming, and more. IN THE BEGINNING The founder of EWTN, Mother Angelica , founded Our Lady Of The Angels Monastery near Birmingham, Alabama and began developing short written religious teachings. As these short books became more popular, Mother Angelica's fellow Nun s looked at technology to enable worldwide distribution. TELEVISION Mother Angelica began receiving requests for speaking engagements, which turned into a Video series of her talks taped at a local Birmingham television station WIAT (then known as WBMG). Her shows aired on Christian Broadcasting Network (now ABC Family ) as well as TBN . After visiting WCFC TV Channel 38 Chicago (now WCPX ) and being aguest on their show called "Among Friends" she decided that "She has got to have one!!". Shortly after when the Mother Angelica discovered that the local Birmingham station she used to produce her shows for TBN and CBN was airing a show from CBS (WIAT/WBMG was and still is a CBS affiliate) that she felt contradicted Christian teaching she abruptly ended production. Soon after that in 1980 she built a TV studio on monastery property in Irondale, Alabama , a suburb of Birmingham . This developed into the worldwide broadcast center that EWTN is today. DEVELOPMENT OF EWTN After Mother was able to purchase satellite space, EWTN signed on in August of 1981 with 4 hours a day of programming, including talk shows, ''Mother Angelica Live'' (aired two nights a week), Sunday Mass once a week, and re-runs of older Catholic programs such as Life Is Worth Living with Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen . The remainer of the time was filled with shows produced by Catholic dioceses across the country. Other programs occupying the schedule included the Christian drama shows produced by the Lutheran Church ''This is Life'' and ''Patterns for Living'', some Protestant teaching programs that were in agreement with Catholic principles, and children's shows such as ''Joy Junction'' and ''The Sunshine Factory''. About a third of the time consisted of secular content, like re-runs of '' The Bill Cosby Show '', Public Domain movies, and cooking and western-themed shows. From 1986 to 1988 , secular content was gradually dropped, and 1987 , Satellite Distribution was expanded to a more desirable channel, and the channel went 24 hours a day. At this point, the channel began running the Rosary daily and added a number of teaching shows. Program production gradually increased at the station. The Mass which aired weekly became televised daily in 1991 and their production approached nearly half the day. Programs deemed to be "too progressive" were rejected, and most shows from non-Catholic sources were dropped. A more traditional image was gradually taken on, one that remains to this date. RADIO In 1992 , EWTN established the largest privately owned Shortwave Radio station in the Birmingham area. The station broadcasts Catholic programming 24 hours a day in English and Spanish . In 1996, EWTN launched a free satellite-delivered AM/FM Radio network to stations worldwide, also in English and Spanish. In 2004, EWTN announced an agreement with Sirius Satellite Radio , which allows Sirius to carry EWTN programming. NEWS The EWTN News department produces a daily news service for the television and radio network, featuring news sources including Vatican Radio . They also produce a show combining conservative politics with Catholic teaching called The World Over . EWTN'S VIEWS They indeed believe that Protestants , Orthodox , and non-Christians may be saved based on what they know and understand, though they affirm that all non-Catholics lack the complete Truth. (For more on this, see the Section On Salvation in the article on the Catholic Church.) EWTN has a negative view of liberal and even moderate or mainstream Catholics (priests and bishops included), whom are sometimes described as "Cafeteria Catholics". In its early history, EWTN ran a wide variety of Catholic produced programming from various Roman Catholic sources. This ranged from Charismatic Movement programming such as Father Michael Manning to shows focusing on Social Reform and justice, like Christopher Closeup, to teaching shows hosted by various priests and bishops some of which were on the progressive side. When they had to program 24/7 and lacked the resources to produce their own shows they took shows they would today not even consider. The Mass they ran was completely in English as well. In the early 1990s , EWTN began producing more of their own shows. They also began running the Mass daily. Their attitude also began to change in response to liberal attitudes within the Church. They began preaching against Relativism as well as those who do not follow Church teachings. They also began to demonstrate disdain to the way Mass was being celebrated in various parishes. They argued that many churches supposedly no longer celebrated the Mass in a reverent manner. As a result in 1992 they began mixing Latin into their own Masses. They still celebrated the Novus Ordo Mass but a few common prayers would be said in Latin . They also cut the hymns to just the opening and closing songs. They also stopped using contemporary praise and worship music in which they used guitars, drums and piano and replaced the music with organ and violin. Some hymns are still Protestant but approved by Rome. In between they used Gregorian Chant . On Christmas Eve of 1993 Mother Angelica and her order of nuns switched their clothing to the pre-Vatican II traditional habit. While they accept Vatican II teachings they allege that many Catholics abuse these reforms. While they accept the validity of an all-English Mass (in fact they were all English prior to 1992) they allege the fact that the Vatican II text Sacrosanctum Concilium instructed that Latin be retained in portions of the Mass. At the same time they allege that Sacrosanctum Concilium instructed that parts of the Mass to be said in the vernacular. EWTN has many programs discussing Protestant beliefs from there perspective, such as ''The Journey Home'' in which converts to Catholicism , mostly from other Christian Denominations , state their reasons for converting. They go about discussing with the guest their background, their ''journey'' (indicating their former beliefs in order) and their reasons for changing their beliefs. The guest explains how he/she saw Catholicism as the source of Christian truth and religious belief, and also supply their views on their previous faith. Intellectual reasoning and discussions make up the substance of the program. Guests chosen usually are from an intellectual (PhD's)/scholarly background (often pastorial/faith related) and occasionally a typical lay-person. Shows such as ''Sunday Night Live'' with Fr. Benedict Groeshel also host religious discussions and are usually appreciated by all faiths (i.e Catholics as well other Christian denominations even including other religions such as Jews , Muslims , Hindus as claimed several times on the show). EWTN affirm certain practices and accept and discourage other paths. They reject most locally produced diocesesan programming from other regions, however the organization is very large and heavily independent hence its is less in need for external programming contributions. Their opinions and views don't necessarily reflect the Catholic Church itself. PROGRAMMING Here's some of the programs on EWTN:
The network also airs coverage of Church events worldwide, documentaries, music specials, the Rosary , and other Devotional segments. SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINK |