c. 1998 Religion News Service

UNDATED _ Mother Angelica is a feisty, traditionalist nun who often gives dyspepsia to the American hierarchy through her command of a loyal TV audience of millions.

In her latest tangle with church authority, for example, she complained on her Eternal Word Television Network that Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles took a wrong-headed approach to the liturgy in a pastoral letter to his people.

When she refused his demand for an unqualified on-air apology, the cardinal filed a formal complaint with the Vatican, calling on it to rein her in. An aide to the cardinal said Mahony charged the nun maligned him and seemed to think she was accountable to no one.

But while the cardinal is seeking the support of the pope, Mother Angelica is claiming the endorsement of a higher authority.

In a dramatic TV appearance Jan. 28, she told her audience Jesus and Mary, his mother, were responsible the night before for curing her of a crippling spinal injury afflicting her for more than 40 years.

She said she no longer needed leg braces and crutches to walk and no longer suffered pain. To prove her point _ and to the amusement of the young people in the studio _ the 74-year-old nun danced a little jig with the show’s co-host, Jeff Cavins.

In the 16 years since she founded EWTN, based in Birmingham, Ala., Mother Angelica _ described by supporters as a cross between Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson and comedian Don Rickles _ had always appeared seated before the cameras, wearing her brown full habit covering the braces on her legs.

EWTN says the network reaches 54 million homes through 1,600 affiliates in the United States, Latin America, Europe and the Pacific Rim.

On the Jan. 28 broadcast, the nun told viewers she was healed while praying the Rosary in her office with an Italian mystic, whom she did not identify. In the middle of the recitation of the prayers, the nun said, the mystic “started talking to our Lady,” a reference to Mary, the mother of Jesus.

Mother Angelica, indicating she had been skeptical, said she kept her head down and continued praying and saw nothing.

“When it was over (the mystic) just told me a few things our Lord and our Lady said,” Mother Angelica said. “One was, that they were pleased with what we were doing for them and the church.”

The mystic also told the nun that “our Lady began to cry and she said she cried over many things, especially priests (and) religious who are losing their faith.”

Then, she said, the mystic asked her to remove her leg braces, which she did. When she tried to walk, she said,”My body went every which way and so did my legs. … I walked to the door of my office and had a hard time turning around because both legs were going every which way and when I did turn around I felt a heat on my ankles and I thought. `Wow.'” On Feb. 3, elaborating on the incident, Mother Angelica said, “This was a miracle I hadn’t asked for _ didn’t expect _ extemely happy over it and never ever thought it would be. The response has been phenomenal.”

She said the Italian mystic who prayed with her said she had been sent by “our Lady.” Both the mystic and another nun, who was also in the office at the time of the purported healing, claim to have seen a bright glow surround a religious picture on the wall, Mother Angelica said.”I rejoice in the Lord’s mercy in my regard but I think he did it for you _ to renew your hope. It’s going to be OK, everything is going to be OK,” she told viewers.

Ann Murray, a spokeswoman, said Mother Angelica is declining interviews and that the name of the mystic, who has not appeared on television, “is not being given out.”

In Los Angeles, the Rev. Gregory Coiro, Mahony’s director of media relations, said, “On America Online people have said to me, `God healed Mother Angelica because she took on the cardinal.’ I said, `Oh, no. God did it for me so you can’t accuse me any more of attacking this crippled nun.'” The confrontation between the cardinal and the powerful TV nun started Nov. 12, when Mother Angelica criticized Mahony’s pastoral letter on the liturgy. She complained it did not place enough emphasis on the real presence of Jesus in the bread and wine of Holy Communion.

“I am afraid my obedience in that diocese would be absolutely zero and I hope everybody else’s obedience would be zero,” Coiro quoted her as saying.

Coiro said the cardinal asked for an apology and a clarification. On her Nov. 18 show, Coiro said, Mother Angelica expressed regret for her remarks but went on to say the cardinal’s letter “was confusing.”

“In essence she said he is teaching heresy,” Coiro said. “He wanted her to make plain the cardinal archbishop of Los Angeles believed everything the Catholic Church teaches about the Eucharist.”

When she spurned the cardinal’s further request for a clear apology without commentary, Coiro said, Mahony personally filed a formal complaint with Vatican authorities when he was in Rome for the recent Synod for America.

“The problem is she is a very popular figure and a populist figure,”Coiro said.”She is quite able to portray herself as this little nun in Alabama with her TV station confused by the lofty teaching of the cardinal archbishop of Los Angeles.”

DEA END RENNER