MOTHER ANGELICA VOWS TO KEEP FIGHTING THE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH by Thomas Droleskey In an interview conducted at Our Lady of Angels Monastery in Irondale. Ala.. Mother M. Angelica, P.C.P.A ., the foundress of Eternal Word Television Network and WEWN (Eternal Word's shortwave radio network), demonstrated a remarkable spirit of grace and humor in the midst of the seemingly endless attacks on her in recent weeks. Mother affirmed that she will continue to bring the message of the true faith to the brokenhearted souls who are suffering at the hands of the modernists in the Church. The broken-hearted people, according to Mother Angelica, are those who have been treated with abject cruelty by bishops and chancery offices, pastors, and curates (as well as modernist nuns) when presenting concerns about liturgical abuses, doctrinal deviations, and sex education. Mother stated that the broken-hearted people want to hear the unchanging truth of Jesus Christ; they do not want to be subjected to personal speculation and/or innovation in their parishes, schools, and dioceses . The situation is so bad, Mother noted, that one of her viewers wrote to her to say that she, the viewer, belonged to the "Electric Church." Mother explained what the woman meant. "Every time I go there." she wrote, "I get a shock!" Mother said that she wants to "awaken the people to the grave, grave danger they're in"--a danger which is originating within the Church from the dissidents, many of whom hold key chancery and teaching positions. Not prone to believe in conspiracies, Mother Angelica asserted that it is hard not to believe that there is some "master plan" at work in this systematic destruction of the faith. She noted that some illicit innovation pops up in one parish--and all of a sudden it is found everywhere across the world! "One parish takes out all of the kneelers, and the next thing you know it's happening all over the place." Mother spoke at length about what Fr. Povich from Croatia had related during a recent visit to EWTN. Over 460 churches were destroyed in Croatia by the Communists; Mother said that Fr. Povich observed that a similar fate might await the faith in this country, where the destruction is being self-imposed. As Mother herself noted, banners and empty crosses adorn our churches. The Blessed Sacrament has been hidden from view, prompting some to conclude that it would take our Lady and St. Joseph more than three days to find Jesus in a tabernacle in some of our churches! Particularly troubling to Mother is the way in which ecclesial bureaucrats and administrative boards seek to usurp the authority of the Vicar of Christ--and those bishops who are in full communion with him. Mother went to great lengths to explain that she loves and prays for the bishops; what angers her is that some of Christ's shepherds are not faithful to the Holy Father. They remain in communion with him juridically, while doing everything possible to undermine his teaching authority-- permitting dissidents to preach, to teach, to write, and to hold positions whereby they can browbeat the "little people" who simply want to lead holy lives. It is these few bishops who are mounting a vicious campaign to force EWTN off local cable systems. Mother declared that she is undeterred in the face of such criticism because she has a mission to defend Christ's Holy Church and the Holy Father. As an example, Mother noted that every option which the Holy See permits becomes an ironclad law with the modernists. The "sign of peace" before Communion, she indicated, was not meant to be an occasion to interrupt the faithful's meditative state. It has become a show, a distraction (which is why the option of not extending a physical sign of peace, a perfectly licit practice, has been adopted in Our Lady of Angels Chapel in Irondale). Mother indicated that she knows people who drive up to 90 miles on a Sunday just so they can attend a Mass without distraction. "There is no where for these people to go to." The dissidents, Mother reflected, talk about "plurality" and "pluralism"--but such sloganeering is a smoke screen. "The plurality is all on their side.... They do not permit dissent from dissent!" Sex education is one telling example Mother pointed to: Parents objecting to the sexology mandated by diocese after diocese are subjected to tremendous humiliation. Where's the shepherd for these people? They are hurting. They are in need of help. The shepherds will not listen to them. The sheep are ridiculed and publicly embarrassed." I Mother Angelica said that the attacks on her by various bishops, including the Most Reverends Rembert Weakland and Emil Wcela, were prompted not only by her now-famous commentary about the state of the Church on August 14th, 1993, but also by her videotape entitled