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In 1973 a group of Episcopalians in Birmingham invited her to lead some seminars in Bible studies. Her growing fame as a spiritual teacher and writer led to 60 appearances on Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network. In 1981 she founded EWTN, which began broadcasting four hours a day from a primitive studio in a converted garage. Now the network has a staff of 134 and owns property and equipment worth $32.4 million. There is no budget as such. Mother Angelica believes God will provide, and so far he has: last year loyal fans contributed $13.2 million to keep EWTN on the air.
Mother Angelica preaches total loyalty to the Pope and the magisterium (the church's teaching authority). Her most provocative expression of that faith took place during John Paul II's 1993 visit to the World Youth Day conference in Denver. One feature of this event was a mimed pageant on the stations of the Cross in which the role of Jesus was performed by a woman. Several bishops were present and took no umbrage, but Mother Angelica was aghast. Having a female represent Christ was "an abomination" and "blasphemy" perpetrated by unnamed Catholic liberals who want to "divide and separate and destroy" the church. "Enough is enough," she declared, her voice quivering with anger. "I'm tired of inclusive language that refuses to admit that the Son of God is a man. I'm tired of you, liberal church in America. You're sick." One prelate who witnessed the pageant, Milwaukee's liberal archbishop Rembert Weakland, called Mother Angelica's performance "disgraceful, un-Christian and offensive."
Some of her critics believe Mother Angelica has become at least unintentionally subversive of her antifeminist goals by becoming a teaching authority in her own right. It is easy to see why she is. Her comforting manner, her reliance on traditional formulas and even her grandmotherly ire against "liberalism" appeal strongly to Catholics nostalgic for the old church of certainty. As she proudly proclaimed in her 1993 diatribe, hers is "the Catholicity of the simple and the poor and the elderly." And as Jesus taught, she added, woe to those who would tamper with it. --Reported by Richard N. Ostling/Irondale