Mother Mary Angelica, Eternal World Television Network Founder, Dies At 92
Famed nun and Eternal Word Television Network founder Mother Mary Angelica has passed away at the age of 92. After declining in health for years due to a cerebral hemorrhage in 2001 and several less severe strokes following, she died at the rural monastery at which she lived outside Birmingham, Ala. Originally an Ohio native, she moved south in 1962 with a group of nuns on a mission to open a new monastery in Alabama. The Roman Catholic began the EWTN from the monastery garage in 1981 with just $200 in hand and turned it into a media empire. The company now boasts 11 TV networks broadcasting Catholic programming to more than 258 million households, according to the AP.
MasterCard and World Vision to Address Key Issues Facing Humanitarian Sector
MasterCard has partnered with World Vision to help provide humanitarian aid worldwide more efficiently and effectively through its expertise, services and products, primarily using digital identity and electronic payment technology. These efforts include World Vision’s Last Mile Mobile Solutions and the MasterCard Aid Network, which the partners tested in the Philippines to help micro-entrepreneurs rebuild after Typhoon Haiyan, according to a news release, as well as in Nepal following 2015’s devastating earthquake to deliver services, food assistance and equipment. In the future, MasterCard and World Vision plan to partner on fundraising and advocacy as well as joint industry research and consulting from MasterCard on topics like digital identity and data management and protection.
From Refugee to CEO: Leader of Catholic Relief Services to Address Santa Clara University Commencement on June 11
Catholic Relief Services (CRS) president and CEO Carolyn Y. Woo has been chosen to deliver the commencement address at Santa Clara University June 11, 2016. She grew up as a refugee, fleeing communist China to Hong Kong, and took solace in the Catholic education she received there, which led her to love and serve the church for years to come. She will also receive an honorary degree at the ceremony. CRS has provided aid in some of the world’s most tragic crises, including the Syrian refugee crisis, human trafficking worldwide, and climate-caused farm devastation in Africa, a news release reports.
Awana Announces Transition of President Jack Eggar
President Jack Eggar has resigned from Awana, an organization which he has led for 19 years. Board member Valerie Bell has been named interim President and CEO while Awana conducts the search for a new leader. Under Eggar’s leadership, Awana repositioned itself toward its original vision and now reaches many more children worldwide in some of the most “forgotten corners of the world,” says board president David Branton. Eggar was also instrumental in launching the Awana “Leader Based Strategy” outside the U.S., allowing the organization to better equip leaders to engage children with the Gospel around the world. The new effort has increased the number of children Awana reaches in other countries from 400,000 to 2.3 million since 2007, Religion News Service Reports.
Catholic Charities Confronts $25 Million Deficit in State Funding
Catholic Charities is holding a fundraiser to help close the $25 million gap owed to the agency by the state of Illinois due to its budget impasse. The organization says it is determined to continue serving the more than one million vulnerable and impoverished residents in Cook and Lake counties, according to the Chicago Tribune. The dinner and auction fundraiser, titled “Hearts for Hope,” will take place April 16, 2016 and will help fund its 150 social service programs across 160 locations, particularly aid for senior citizens and child development centers, which are programs most at risk by the budget standstill.
