The Holy Spirit is never properly referred to as “she” there is no warrant for this is any theological writing prior to the last twenty years or so-not in Scripture, not in the Fathers, not in the Doctors of the Church, not in any of the popes or councils, not in any of the great theologians. The give-away line for Schroth is the last clause of his sentence, which characterizes Mother Angelica’s kind of Catholicism as one that is “more determined to squelch the Spirit than allow him or her to speak.” Here the ideologue becomes evident. I know staffers at EWTN–in the interest of full disclosure I admit that I have appeared on “Mother Angelica Live” two or three times–and know, from a first-hand exposure that Schroth lacks, that the folks at the studio in Irondale, Alabama pray the rosary and meditate before the Blessed Sacrament, which means they have Marian piety and Eucharistic (Christ-centered) piety. From my experience, this charge almost invariably comes from people who have little Marian piety of their own, so any Marian piety shown by others seems excessive. If his charge that EWTN is a “Disneyland of pseudo-miracles” is suspect, so too is his charge that the programs encourage “a piety that exalts Mary over Jesus.” Proof, please? Schroth offers none. I’m not interested in defending the miraculous nature of what occurred at Lanciano–monographs concerning the scientific and historical investigations are freely available in several languages-but I note with surprise that Schroth seems unaware of the incident and takes it as a matter of course that any such purported miracle must be a product of piety gone overboard. The miracle is preserved today in a monstrance, he says, and we can actually see the blood vessels in the host.” Schroth seems to think this is nuts evidently he hasn’t heard of the well-attested Eucharist miracle at Lanciano, Italy. Frank Butler for telling on the air “the story of a priest who, when he doubted the real presence during daily Mass, saw and felt the host and wine turn into human flesh and blood in his hands. I do know that Schroth doesn’t seem to be a competent judge of such things. Has EWTN ever promoted what might be classified as a “pseudo-miracle”? I don’t know.
I don’t subscribe to cable and so have seen little of EWTN‘s programming. “But anyone who watches EWTN will have to conclude that Catholicism is a Disneyland of pseudo-miracles, with a piety that exalts Mary over Jesus, more determined to squelch the Spirit than allow him or her to speak.” “Because there is no clear alternative for millions of Americans, she and her network, EWTN, are the American Catholic church.” It seems that “for a generation, American Catholicism has striven to present itself as socially concerned, ecumenical, and intellectually competent” (translation: non-dogmatic). Mother Angelica and EWTN seem at odds with the brand of Catholicism he espouses.
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