Skip to content

Mission and history of EWTN

EWTN Global Catholic Network, now in its 43rd year, is the world’s largest religious media network. EWTN’s 11 global television channels broadcast in multiple languages 24 hours a day, seven days a week, reaching over 425 million television households in more than 160 countries and territories. EWTN’s platforms also include radio services broadcast via SIRIUS/XM, iHeart Radio and more than 500 national and international AM & FM radio affiliates; a global shortwave radio service; one of the largest Catholic websites in the United States; digital and print news services, including the Catholic News Agency, The National Catholic Register newspaper and numerous global news agency services; as well as EWTN Publishing, its publishing division.
CAPPELLA UFFICI EWTN IRONDALE ALABAMA

The EWTN network

Previous
Next

Our foundress

When the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) was launched on 15 August 1981, many thought there would be little demand for a Catholic network. Instead, Mother Mary Angelica of the Annunciation, a cloistered nun, in the early 1960s, fulfilling a promise made to our Lord, founded the monastery of Our Lady of the Angels in Irondale, Alabama, without imagining that one day EWTN would become the largest religious media network in the world.

EWTN is everywhere

EWTN really is everywhere! We use state-of-the-art technology to make our content available on a wide range of platforms, enabling people to stream and watch EWTN’s Catholic media programmes on demand, wherever and whenever they like.
»Every day it reaches more than 425 million households in 160 countries around the world!
»EWTN broadcasts 24 hours a day, every day, in several languages.
»EWTN offers digital and print news services, including the Italian news agency ACI Stampa and the platform dedicated to evangelisation and youth culture ChurchPOP Italiano.
»EWTN is broadcast exclusively in English in Italy on SKY channel 855.
EWTN’s platforms include direct broadcast satellite radio and television services; a global shortwave radio station; the largest Catholic website in the United States; and two global cable services; as well as a publishing group.

FAQ

Eternal World Television Network is dedicated to the proclamation of the truth as defined by the Magisterium of the Catholic Church. EWTN’s mission is to serve the teaching of the faith of the Church as proclaimed by the Supreme Pontiff and his predecessors.
In the early 1960s, Mother Angelica, a cloistered Franciscan nun, made a promise to the Lord to found a monastery in the non-Catholic part of the Southern United States. The bishop of Mobile, Alabama, whose jurisdiction also included Irondale, a town just outside Birmingham, invited her to build the monastery there. There, Mother Angelica and her sisters dedicated themselves to evangelisation, and their first step was to write a series of ‘Mini-books’ on religious themes. Given their success, the monastery bought a printing press to print them and began distributing them worldwide.
The popularity of mini-books also resulted in a growing demand to record them as audio-books. This demand led to a series of recorded conversations at a local TV station. Eager to bring this message to a much wider audience, Mother Angelica came up with the idea of creating a Catholic television network. From humble beginnings in a small TV studio built inside the monastery, home to six nuns who knew little or nothing about technology and communication, EWTN today has a state-of-the-art audiovisual complex, financed entirely by donations from individuals and groups. Since its inauguration in August 1981, EWTN has grown to become the largest religious media network in the world.
EWTN has grown from its humble beginnings to become the largest Catholic media network in the world, comprising 11 global television channels and several regional stations, two radio stations, a network of popular Catholic websites, news services and editorials.
EWTN is a non-profit, independent organisation based in Alabama, USA. The network has trustees and many benefactors, but no shareholders or owners.
The current Managing Director and Chairman of the Board of EWTN is Michael Warsaw. Mother Angelica personally wanted him to lead the station, assisted by a team that worked for several years at her side before her retirement. These men and women continue to carry on the mission of EWTN, spreading the Word of God to the world through all possible means of communication. Today EWTN has more than 400 employees in several countries.
EWTN is an independent Catholic apostolate. The CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors, Michael Warsaw, was appointed consultant to the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication in 2017. EWTN maintains excellent relations with a multitude of Vatican dicasteries and ecclesiastical entities, particularly through its Rome office. The most important papal events broadcast by EWTN are made possible through close cooperation with Vatican Media and the Vatican Dicastery for Communication.
EWTN is entirely financed by the donations of its viewers, listeners and readers. It does not support itself through advertising or membership fees. Mother Angelica founded the network trusting solely in Divine Providence, and this is still the case today.
EWTN does not charge for its services. All satellite signals are free of charge, which means that they are accessible at no cost to TV providers and radio stations.
EWTN has eleven distinct television services (feeds or streams) with schedules programmed according to local time zones and some customisation of content: (1) United States; (2) Canada; (3) United States – Spanish; (4) South America and Spain; (5 and 6) Europe – English on two satellites that also cover the Middle East; (7) Europe – Germany; (8) Asia Pacific; (9) Africa and South Asia. In addition, EWTN is also available through two high-definition channels, in English and Spanish.
In addition to the international channels, EWTN has several regional channels, including the newly established EWTN España, EWTN Nordic (active in Scandinavia), EWTN Poland, EWTN Hungary, EWTN Romania, EWTN Germany, and EWTN Ukraine.
Other affiliated channels include those in Croatia, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

EWTN brings the Good News to the world today!

From a garage studio started in 1981 by Mother Angelica, to becoming the largest Catholic media network in the world today, EWTN proclaims the Truth of Jesus Christ to the nations.
Without receiving money from the Church, EWTN provides reliable news coverage of events around the world through TV and radio, online and in print. EWTN also educates, entertains and explores the beauty and teachings of the Catholic faith to fulfil Mother Angelica’s mission to reach more people with the message that ‘Jesus loves you’.
But we cannot do this without your help. The world needs EWTN. And EWTN needs you! With your gift today, you join EWTN’s mission in reaching people around the world with the Eternal Word.
About us

LIVE
FROM THE VATICAN

Be present live on EWTN.it