A Jesuit’s Global Reach

Fr. Mitch Pacwa, SJ, continues the work of Mother Angelica on EWTN, the world’s largest religious media network

by Garan Santicola

When Mother Angelica introduced Fr. Mitch Pacwa, SJ, to her Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) audience in 1984, the first thing they talked about was mandolin songs.

At the time, Fr. Pacwa was working on a PhD in Old Testament at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. He also regularly appeared in radio spots to answer questions about Catholicism.

Having recently founded EWTN, Mother Angelica, a Poor Clare nun, had heard about Fr. Pacwa’s poise and erudition on the airwaves. She invited him to her studio in a converted garage at the monastery of Our Lady of the Angels in Irondale, Ala., and this was when she inquired about his mandolin playing.

“I play a few songs that are Hasidic songs,” Fr. Pacwa told her. “The Hasidim were the charismatic renewal of Judaism back in the 17th century, and they have very lively songs and dancing to go with it. I know a few of these Hasidic songs, most of which are direct quotations from scripture.”

From then on, Fr. Pacwa was a frequent guest on “Mother Angelica Live.” At her invitation, he hosted programming for the network in 1984 and forward, beginning with a series on the psalms and another on the prophets.

In 2001, when Mother Angelica suffered a stroke, Fr. Pacwa was asked to fill in as host, and when she passed in 2016, she left him to help shepherd the network she had founded in 1980. The Society of Jesus granted Fr. Pacwa permission to make his media apostolate the primary focus of his ministry, and “Mother Angelica Live” was rebranded as “EWTN Live” with Fr. Pacwa as host.

“Mother Angelica always told us to keep up with what’s happening in the media,” Fr. Pacwa says. “We’ve been adapting all along. And we’ll keep doing it. I would say that our mission so far has been paint-by-numbers, stay-inside-the-lines Catholicism, where we’re happy with the picture. We’re not pushing for the far right or far left. We’re going to continue to teach the faith and let people know more about our faith.”

Peter Gagnon, president of EWTN and a longtime executive at the network, recalls the friendship that made Fr. Pacwa the perfect person to succeed Mother Angelica. “He fundamentally respected her and how she built EWTN to proclaim the faith and teach the faith,” Gagnon says. “And Mother respected Fr. Mitch, his knowledge, particularly of Scripture, but also his humility, in the way he was able to take concepts and bring them down to where the sheep are grazing.”

Father Pacwa founded Ignatius Productions to support filmed pilgrimages to the Holy Land and other sacred sites, including those in Greece and Turkey. His most recent filmed pilgrimages, which began airing in 2021, were to Poland. Having grown up in a Polish- American family on the Northwest Side of Chicago, he was drawn to Poland for the opportunity to explore his roots and walk in the footsteps of Polish saints.

His newest show, Scripture and Tradition, furthers his mission to present the complexities of biblical scholarship in accessible ways. Like all of his EWTN programming, it corresponds to his books, forming masterclasses on Catholicism. This year, Fr. Pacwa focuses on his latest book, Saint Paul on the Power of the Cross, delivered in his signature accessible style, which longtime EWTN producer Jason Addington believes is part of what endears him to viewers.

“The first time he came to the network, he was wearing his cowboy hat,” Addington says. “Every day you see him, he’s got a cowboy hat on and cowboy boots and a big belt buckle, as you can see on Scripture and Tradition.”

Father Pacwa also loves to fish and hunt. “When you go to his house, you have to watch where you walk because there are mounts all along the wall,” Addington says. “If you’re not careful, you might get your eye put out by an antler.”

Once, when Fr. Pacwa was laid up in bed with a foot injury, Addington visited and found him translating the Our Father into Ugaritic, one of his 12 languages. His other ancient languages include Latin, Koine Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic, all learned out of necessity for his biblical scholarship. His knowledge of Aramaic prepared him to serve in the Maronite Church, an Eastern Catholic particular church in full communion with the pope. He now has faculties in both the Latin and Maronite rites, and EWTN features him in programming on the Eastern liturgy at a Maronite church.

“Father Mitch is our connection to them,” says Gagnon, EWTN’s president. “And he’s able to explain what we are witnessing, because some of it is very new to our audience.”

A former educator—at Loyola Academy in Wilmette, Ill., Loyola University of Chicago and the University of Dallas—Fr. Pacwa is the author of more than 20 books, including the Ignatian guide How to Listen When God is Speaking. Today, he is featured on all EWTN platforms, from television and radio to short form YouTube videos and the EWTN+ streaming app. EWTN is the largest religious media network in the world, reaching more than 435 million households in 160 countries, 24 hours a day, in multiple languages.