Fin de Siecle, part 2

In an earlier post, I wondered who would take the place of Mother Angelica.  I still don't know who can replace her witty charm, her wisdom and her ability to connect with people.  But I have a nomination for who will continue to use EWTN to hammer heretics: Raymond Arroyo.

As Exhibit A, I submit his memorial episode of The World Over.

There are two notable parts in this video: Mother Angelica's condemnation of the fiasco at World Youth Day in Denver where a woman played Jesus in the Stations of the Cross and her scuffle with Cardinal Mahony.  These are significant not only because of what Mother said, but because as far as I know EWTN essentially swept them under the rug. In the case of the Cardinal Mahony flap, EWTN was requested to never play it again, according to the book written by the same Raymond Arroyo.  In the case of WYD, I don't know if EWTN deliberately decided not to show it, or if they simply felt that it wasn't relevant anymore since that episode was long past.

When I saw this show, and saw the Cardinal Mahony incident discussed, I couldn't help but get the sense that Raymond Arroyo was making a statement that, even if no one else could take Mother's place, he personally was going to continue her role as Guardian of (small-O)rthodoxy.  It's something that he's done in the past with some crisp interviews on his World Over Live show, but it didn't occur to me until this show that he was formally accepting the challenge.

Lead on!