| Revision as of 17:00, 5 August 2005 edit209.214.107.179 (talk)No edit summary← Previous edit | Revision as of 15:50, 27 August 2005 edit undo62.69.102.213 (talk)No edit summaryNext edit → | ||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
| '''Mother Angelica''' (1923-) is an American religious figure. | |||
| Born on ], ] in ], '''Rita Antoinette Rizzo''' was the only child of John and Mae Rizzo, who divorced in ]. Her childhood was marred by ] and unhappiness. Her father abondoned the family when she was very young, and her mother struggled with chronic depression and poverty. | Born on ], ] in ], '''Rita Antoinette Rizzo''' was the only child of John and Mae Rizzo, who divorced in ]. Her childhood was marred by ] and unhappiness. Her father abondoned the family when she was very young, and her mother struggled with chronic depression and poverty. | ||
Revision as of 15:50, 27 August 2005
Mother Angelica (1923-) is an American religious figure.
Born on April 20, 1923 in Canton, Ohio, Rita Antoinette Rizzo was the only child of John and Mae Rizzo, who divorced in 1929. Her childhood was marred by poverty and unhappiness. Her father abondoned the family when she was very young, and her mother struggled with chronic depression and poverty.
Rita became a nun in the "Poor Clares" in 1944 against her mother's wishes, although, ironically, some years later, (according to the Internet Movie Database), Rita's mother, Mae G. Rizzo, become a nun herself just as Rita became a Mother Superior. Thus, Rita called her biological mother "Sister", and her biological mother called her "Mother".
Mother Angelica created the Eternal Word Television Network (aka EWTN) in 1981, and it has become a powerful voice for conservative Roman Catholics, despite its location in the not-particularly Catholic state of Alabama in the Bible Belt of the Deep South, though the location probably has a lot to do with evangelization efforts, which redoubled under the last papacy (of Pope John Paul II). She was frequently seen on the network teaching or taking questions from viewers via telephone. She is noted for her pudgy face, large eyeglasses and gruff style of preaching, and has frequently been parodied and caricatured, including receiving prank phone calls on the air from Howard Stern cohort Captain Janks.
Mother Angelica has reportedly suffered some health setbacks now that she is 82 years old, but she has stabilized according to sources close to her. She is based at "Our Lady of the Angels Monastery" in Irondale, Alabama near Birmingham.
Categories: