ARTICLES

Not Nuns Gone Wild

EWTN Celebrates 25 Anniversary in San Francisco

BY BARTHOLOMEW JAMES

It was a sight that might have brought a tear of joy to the eye of a parish priest: a seemingly endless parade of the faithful, lined up and waiting patiently for their turn in the confessional. And for over 12 hours straight, they kept coming. "We weren't prepared for this many people going to confession ... the line became unmanageable at times," said Pam Presbitero, a volunteer in charge of keeping the queue organized. "I had one lady who said she hadn't been to confession in three years; it was the Holy Spirit at work," she said.

At the high-water mark, seven priests worked in tandem granting absolutions, including several who hadn't planned to hear confessions but volunteered to help out to accommodate the demand. "I said 'thank you' to one of the priests who volunteered, and he said, 'oh, you know this is the best part about being a priest, this is one of the joys of being a priest,'" said Presbitero.

The occasion was the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) 25th Anniversary Family Celebration, held at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco on Saturday, January 28 and Sunday, January 29, 2006. It was a rare opportunity for Catholics to meet their favorite EWTN television personalities up close and personal, and although the majority of the 3,000 people who attended each day were local, others traveled a considerable distance to attend. Jerry Busch and members of his family flew in from Alberta, Canada, where Busch and four of his nine children run the family ironwork and rebar company. "Ibeen an EWTN fan for the last three years and wanted to meet some of the people I see there everyday on TV," he said, shortly after he came out of the confessional.

John Zakhariah made a pilgrimage from Santa Monica, where he attends Mass at Saint Anne's parish. He said he was elated that he had a chance to meet Raymond Arroyo, host of the network's news and current events program, The World Over. "The World Over is my favorite EWTN program because it helps me catch up on the news from a Catholic perspective," he explained. In the casual atmosphere of the event, Zakhariah said he noticed Arroyo had a surprisingly lively personality. "Ray has a great sense of humor, and I'm glad to see him express that because, when he's giving the news, he doesn't have that opportunity," he said. Over the course of the weekend, Zakhariah attended every speech, presentation, and Mass offered at the event and said he was glad he made the trip north. "It was a spiritual experience, which I found incredibly fulfilling," he said.

The San Francisco stop was the second of five similar EWTN celebra tions scheduled around the country. The network will visit San Antonio, St. Louis, and Philadelphia later this spring. Last October, the first installment was held in Denver. EWTN president Michael Warsaw said that the San Francisco audience was different than in Denver. "There was a great spirit in the San Francisco crowd, they were a much more animated and on fire group," he said. Warsaw also noticed that the turnout for confessions was much larger in California. "I spoke to a young guy, probably 20, 21, who told me he hadn't been to confession in five years until that Saturday, and that being there, being in that environment, prompted him to go back to the sacrament," he said. "I know there were many, many more stories like that throughout the weekend."

The network has a long history of broadcasting Catholic content that reflects an orthodox teaching of the Faith. More than once over the years, EWTN has ruffled the feathers of less-than-orthodox bishops and other Church officials across the country. I asked Warsaw if he felt there was any connection between the strong turnout at the San Francisco event and the fact that many parishes in the area are known for more liberal liturgical practices. "I think there is absolutely a connection between the turnout at the event, the spirit of the people at the event, and the environment in which they find themselves in San Francisco," he said. "I think people were eager to come to an event where they felt supported, where they felt energized, where they felt they were among friends and in an environment where their views and their approach to their practice of the Faith was supported and encouraged. I think very often for people in that kind of environment, where perhaps the Church in particular parishes or a city is not entirely supportive of an orthodox expression of the Faith, coming to an event like we had in San Francisco is really helpful, really energizing, and can help those people feel like they're not alone in their struggles."

Some of the attendees at the event, however, seemed to treat the EWTN personalities more like People magazine celebrities. Was that a concern? "That is an interesting and curious mix when you're in that environment, how people do treat EWTN personalities as celebrities, and I'm sure not everyone is entirely comfortable with that," said Warsaw. "But it is true that we live in a society where being on television makes one a celebrity. I think that's fine as long as people are hearing the message that is being preached by those people. That's the most important thing, and that's the key to EWTN throughout these 25 years: it's entirely about the message, proclaiming the truth and teaching the Faith."

I asked Warsaw what EWTN sees as its role in the New Evangelization called for by recent popes. "We would certainly say that EWTN is a major part of and a significant tool in the New Evangelization," he said. "We have seen and heard countless stories, and in San Francisco we heard these stories of individuals who, as part of their journey back to or into the Catholic Church, stumbled upon EWTN, and it became a catalyst for them in their return or conversion to Catholicism." Warsaw also pointed out that the late Pope John Paul II embraced the media, knowing that in today's age that is how you reach the masses. "And that is really something that [EWTN founder] Mother Angelica saw 25 years ago as she was going around giving talks and bible studies. She quickly saw the power of television to reach a mass audience, to reach countless people as opposed to the 50 or 100 or so that could be in front of her at a given time."

The network also believes that it plays an important role in counteracting much of the dissent and disobedience to the Holy See. "We have been an open platform for Pope John Paul and now for Pope Benedict, and we carry more papal events and news from the Vatican than probably any other television or media entity in the world," he said. "Over our 25 years, people have come to understand that EWTN is loyal and faithful to the magisterium, and they count on the fact that the programs and the opinions expressed on EWTN are going to be opinions which are supportive of the teaching authority of the Church and not contrary to it."

But does EWTN perhaps pose a danger to Catholics who have their faith and life of piety relatively in order by distracting them -- as does television in general -- from familial interactions: reading books aloud, conversation, making music together, and other activities that create and reinforce interpersonal relationships? Mother Angelica biographer and EWTN personality Raymond Arroyo said he didn't think so. "This isn't nuns gone wild; it's the liturgy, its teaching that would hopefully lead you to further discussion and further conversations and prayers," he said. "Now can television as a whole lead you down that path [of distraction]? Absolutely. But EWTN, hardly. Let's not create phantoms where they don't exist -- there are plenty of real ones out there."

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