www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life The Christian East & West UKRAINE. EWTN. NOW

VISION OF FREEDOM

SAT MIGHT MOW

I have seen this same documentary several times over the years and it is well made, shows both GC and Ukrainian Orthodox. My one criticism is that it appears to have been made pre-1990 in the Gorbachev days and dwells on the persecuted Ukrainian Churches and the immigrant churches in Canada which makes it old history. EWTN's reports on Iraqi Christians are also outdated. Why can't EWTN bring more recent reports on current situations instead of repeatedly re-airing these old reports. It would be nice to see the present day Churches in Ukraine. Sorry for being disappointed in EWTN.

Yeah. Especially now in places like Syria, Egypt, and Jordan, EWTN having coverage in those countries would certainly be a lot more current in terms of how the Church is coping with persecution from these "Islamic Radicals" all over the place.

I don't believe it's EWTN's fault. Programs like Vision of Freedom are only aired and not produced by EWTN. Programs like Vision of Freedom and others--like Where God Weeps [wheregodweeps.org] which has episodes on the Christian East-- are produced by the Catholic Radio and Television Network (CRTN) [crtn.org ], so I would recommend that you write to them with suggestions for future programs.

EWTN has and does news coverage on the persecution of Christians throughout the world. Just watch this week's episode of The World Over Live:

Also most of the reports I have seen on the Eastern Churches have been in the middle of the night.

Contact them. Call them up, email them, write to them. When you see a program about Eastern churches on EWTN, let them know you really enjoyed it and that you'd like to see more in the future. If they realize there's an interest, they'll be more alert when it comes to future program acquisitions.

Remember, too, the priest who took over for Mother Angelica as the host of her live show, Father Mitch Pacwa, is bi-ritual (Latin Rite/Maronite Rite) and has a lively interest in the Eastern Church. Write him, too; he's actually in residence at EWTN (he lives with the Franciscan priests and brothers in Irondale) and he has a lot of influence there.

Maybe they could add some variety to their daily mass, which seems to be using more and more latin, but having an Eastern Liturgy once in a while. Maybe even an "anglican rite" mass. The daily mass may be wonderful for shut ins but is really not all that interesting.

EWTN is the Fox News of the Catholic Church!

EWTN is the Fox News of the Catholic Church!

Meaning?

Meaning?

Probably explains why those are my two favorite cable networks.

That it's not a legitimate source of news.

(Kidding. I like Fox News.)

Sorry to say that I find the EWTN programming to be very uninteresting with repeated daily masses from the same church, the same rosaries, endless Mother Angelica re-runs, conversations between priests, etc. Other than the World Over I rarely watch it. It would be nice if they had up to date documentaries and services from the various European cathedrals including the Eastern churches on Sundays and holidays. Would it have been so wrong if they had televised Christmas or Easter Liturgies from Eastern Europe? Even Orthodox? The masses, rosaries, benedictions, etc may be fine for shut ins but not over and over.

Let's be reasonable, here. EWTN is an American cable network conceived by a Franciscan nun from Ohio whose primary target audiences are older American Roman Catholics and Southern Evangelicals. I don't think the network exactly fails in its objectives, therefore, by neglecting Eastern European liturgical events.

Those Masses and Benediction services you see are the conventual public worship services held at the two monasteries, and they are basically broadcast for shut ins. They aren't shows put on for the benefit of liturgists. It's too bad they aren't allowed to broadcast the daily morning Mass from the Shrine in Hanceville instead of the daily Mass from the EWTN chapel. The diocese, however, doesn't permit the Shrine's Mass to be broadcast (nonsensically) because the priests celebrate the Mass facing the reredos rather than facing the people.

I've been to the Shrine in Hanceville and the daily Mass there is really beautiful. Plenty of smells and bells and ceremonial precision without any of the pomposity of, say, High Anglicanism or the hyper-clericalist atmosphere of Roman Catholic Tridentinism. The solemnity of the liturgy is inviting rather than exclusive, in other words (much like the Byzantine liturgy, really, in that respect). Unusually, there is a very dramatic prostration by several of the inferior ministers at the beginning of the Institutional Narrative.

At any rate, I too would like to see more about the Eastern Churches on EWTN, but in order for that to happen, viewers have to appeal to them. Not kvetch at them. Appeal to them.