Angelica, Mother (1923–)

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Angelica, Mother (1923–)

Catholic nun and tv host. Born Rita Antoinette Rizzo, April 20, 1923, in Canton, Ohio; only child of John and Mae (Gianfrancisco) Rizzo (became a nun).

Joined the Poor Clares (1944); became abbess of Our Lady of the Angeles Franciscan monastery in Irondale, Alabama, a suburb of Birmingham; invited by Episcopalians in Birmingham to lead some seminars (1973), gained fame as a spiritual teacher; began to appear on Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network; founded Eternal World Television Network (EWTN, 1981), hosting twice-weekly shows from a studio near the Irondale monastery; deeply conservative, preaches total loyalty to the pope and often attacks feminists and Catholic liberals.