Birmingham, Ala., Dec 30, 2020 / 08:25 am (CNA).- EWTN Global Catholic Network announced a new lineup of shows aimed at growing its programming and expanding its reach on television, radio, and through its digital and news platforms.
Among the new television projects is EWTN News In-Depth which will begin production in January. This new weekly, one-hour news discussion program will offer the Catholic perspective and analysis on the top stories of the week and will be hosted by Montserrat “Montse” Alvarado, a Hispanic Catholic who also serves as Vice President and Executive Director of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. The program will welcome newsmakers, experts, and correspondents from EWTN’s global news bureaus in a discussion of current events in the Church, politics, and culture from the lens of the Catholic faith.
EWTN Radio will expand to two hours the daily broadcast of The Son Rise Morning Show beginning in January. Produced by Sacred Heart Catholic Radio Network, The Son Rise Morning Show is hosted by Anna Mitchell, and covers current affairs, inspirational interviews, and prayer. This expanded version of The Son Rise Morning Show will replace Morning Glory in the radio lineup.
EWTN Radio also recently added a new weekly program Beloved and Blessed with Kimberly Hahn. The show speaks to the desires and strengths of women in all walks of life. Beloved and Blessed replaces Church Alive.
EWTN Radio is also announcing Father Brian Mullady, O.P. and Father John Trigilio as additional hosts of the popular daily program Open Line.
The Network’s 2021 plans include further strategic investment in its news gathering operations in the U.S., and around the globe so that EWTN news outlets can cover even more topics of interest and concern to Catholics throughout the world. Developments include continued expansion of the ACI Africa news services launched in 2019 from Nairobi, Kenya as well as additional projects in the Middle East and Europe.
The new year will also see the continued expansion and development of EWTN España, a new television service customized for viewers in Spain which launched in mid-December.
For more information on EWTN programming and content, please go to www.ewtn.com.
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Cardinal Wilton Gregory of the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., blesses the newly unveiled “National Life Monument” on the campus of The Catholic University of America’s Theological College on May 17, 2023. / Peter Pinedo|CNA
Washington D.C., May 17, 2023 / 15:58 pm (CNA).
The new “National Life Monument,” a larger-than-life bronze sculpture depicting the Blessed Virgin Mary pregnant with the Christ Child, was unveiled and dedicated today on the campus of The Catholic University of America’s Theological College in Washington, D.C.
According to the Canadian artist Timothy Paul Schmalz, the statue, titled “Advent,” is meant to be a symbol of beauty, a celebration of new life, and a bold pro-life statement in the nation’s capital.
Schmalz was present at the dedication ceremony along with the archbishop of Washington, Cardinal Wilton Gregory, and Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet. Gregory prayed over the monument, giving a special blessing to the statue and those present for the dedication.
Gregory praised the monument, saying, “Advent, as a pregnant Madonna, transcends bronze, revealing a deeper significance, deeper truths of God and of us, and his love for each of us, graced as we are in his image and likeness.”
The statue is entirely bronze except for the Blessed Virgin’s womb, which is made of reflective stainless steel. The Virgin Mother lovingly cradles her womb in which Jesus is depicted as an unborn baby. Our Lady is portrayed with a serene and peaceful countenance as she holds the Christ Child in her womb. The steel, which Schmalz describes as a “mystical material,” forms a type of halo around the unborn Christ Child.
“The hope with this sculpture is bringing a permanent, physical symbol that says ‘yes’ to life, that says life is great,” Schmalz told CNA. “To have it here in the nation’s capital is making a powerful statement. It’s saying that we have to celebrate all human life, and all human life is splendid and wonderful, and it’s mystical.”
Crafting a pro-life sculpture was something like solving a riddle, Schmalz said. For years he pondered how to create something that would send a bold pro-life message that wasn’t just “about the horror of abortion.”
“The idea is very difficult within a culture that, as Pope John Paul II said, we’re in a culture of death,” Schmalz said. “So, to put a sculpture called life in the center of Washington, D.C., is in a sense a peaceful weapon to persuade.”
By placing the monument in a high-traffic, public setting in Washington, D.C., Schmalz hopes his statue will not just “preach to the choir” but also touch the hearts of nonbelievers and even those who may be abortion supporters.
“Ideally, I’ll have people coming across here that might be ambiguous about their ideas of abortion, but they will come take a look at this and they will say, ‘You know, I have to say, that sculpture is beautiful,’ and if they’re saying the sculpture is beautiful, what it’s expressing is also beautiful,” Schmalz said. “If it touches one person, I think it’s done its job.”
To Schmalz, each sculpture he makes is a form of prayer that serves a specific function. As a Catholic artist, he believes that the work of faithful artists is about creating “visible ambassadors” of the faith to witness “in a culture that’s trying to remove Christianity.”
When it comes to his Life Monument, Schmalz’s depiction of the Madonna as a young, pregnant woman sends a very intentional message.
“If you look at the amount of positive life symbols out there, like even paintings of pregnant women or a new family, they’re becoming rare,” Schmalz said. “I’ve noticed over the last decade or so that we’re seeing less babies, less baby carriages, and less symbols around that. Our culture used to be filled with it. But now it’s becoming absolutely minimalized.”
This cultural shift, Schmalz believes, has led many young women to believe that having a child is something negative to be dreaded. The result of this anti-life mindset, Schmalz said, is having a devastating impact on society.
“Pope Francis said we’ve got to stop having pets and start having babies,” Schmalz said. “Elon Musk was basically suggesting the same thing, that we’re going to be in serious trouble if we don’t have babies.”
“We have to celebrate human life and that’s what this sculpture is saying,” Schmalz explained.
Schmalz is one of the most renowned Catholic artists of today. His work is displayed across the world from his “Angels Unawares” piece displaying immigrants at the Vatican to his “Homeless Jesus” in the Holy Land to a multitude of other works, religious and nonreligious, in the U.S. and beyond.
A smaller version of the National Life Monument is also on display in Rome’s Church of San Marcello al Corso. According to the statue’s website, Schmalz has plans to place life-sized copies of the National Life Monument in every state across the U.S.
A second casting of Schmalz’s “Angels Unawares,” pictured above, is also on display on Catholic University’s campus.
Father Daniel Moore, provincial superior of the U.S. Society of St. Sulpice, who presided over the dedication ceremony, explained that he hopes Schmalz’s statues will help people realize the sacredness of life and the obligation to help pregnant women, mothers, and those in need.
Schmalz, Moore said, “is using his gift of sculpting, his artistry much like the masons did when they built the great cathedrals, and then the stained glass within the cathedrals. They have become ways of communicating God’s message to us, God’s love to us, the story of how much we are cherished by God.”
Denver, Colo., May 27, 2017 / 04:02 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- In response to Denver’s large homeless population, the city is providing lockers for the homeless to place their belongings so they can take better advantage of local outreach programs.
If the homeless are worried about where to place their belongings and “don’t have access to safe, secure storage and those are all your possessions in the world,” then they aren’t going to utilize available resources said Julie Smith, a spokesperson from Denver Human Services, to the Denverite May 23.
Ten storage units were added to a street downtown, where many homeless shelters are located. Smith explained the containers will hold about as much stuff as will fit into a shopping cart, and can be reserved for 30 days with the option of an additional 30 day renewal. The sidewalk lockers cost about $3,000 for each installment.
Teaming up with the Saint Francis Center, Denver is also planning on adding 200 more storage spaces at the organizations employment service center, located near the city’s capital building. The contract between the city of Denver and the Saint Francis Center will start on June 1 and with $130,000 for the first year of storage space. After that, the center will then be given $100,000 a year if the contract continues.
Smith said the pilot program will measure the use and frequency of the storage systems, and will reassess in year. However, she said in order to access these lockers the person must be actively involved in one of Denver’s many homeless services.
Denver’s Road Home has over 20 community based organizations aiding thousands of homeless people to find a job, skill train, long term and short term shelters as well as providing food and clothing. According to their website, nearly a thousand people were provided with housing last year.
Part of Denver’s many programs is the Saint Francis Center, an Episcopal ministry serving homeless and ex-offenders. It was established in 1983 and has since developed career services and a housing program. An additional program providing permanent lower income housing will be made available in 2017 or 2018.
In 2015, the center served an average of 811 people per day, distributed nearly 90,000 units of clothing, and facilitated jobs for just under 400 people.
Colorado has a large homeless population, and it has increased by over six percent between 2015 and 2016, according to an annual report by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. Over 10,000 people were considered homeless in 2016, and less than one third of that do not have a shelter.
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 14, 2023 / 14:00 pm (CNA).
A panel of judges ruled that a California school district must allow a Christian athletic club to return to public schools after the district banned the group over i… […]
4 Comments
EWTN radio had a glaring problem in its morning lineup. Apparently, it has been rectified.
Father Larry Richards has been given the boot as well.
Perhaps Michael Warsaw can have a chat with Teresa Pastore; aka Teresa Tomeo, wife of the Rev. Mr. Dominick Pastore, and tell her to start reporting the truth about the Archdiocese of Detroit, Archbishop Allen Vigneron, Monsignor G. Michael Bugarin and their attempts to railroad Father Eduard Perrone or she’ll have to find some other outlet to broadcast her radio program on.
EWTN radio had a glaring problem in its morning lineup. Apparently, it has been rectified.
EWTN might fruitfully consider using some of the better talent at The Catholic University in its programming.
Father Larry Richards has been given the boot as well.
Perhaps Michael Warsaw can have a chat with Teresa Pastore; aka Teresa Tomeo, wife of the Rev. Mr. Dominick Pastore, and tell her to start reporting the truth about the Archdiocese of Detroit, Archbishop Allen Vigneron, Monsignor G. Michael Bugarin and their attempts to railroad Father Eduard Perrone or she’ll have to find some other outlet to broadcast her radio program on.
Right on!