Irondale, Alabama, March 20, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Fourteen years ago, Pope John Paul II, not only traveled to Mexico but made the first papal trip to Cuba in its history. Now, all eyes are on Pope Benedict as he visits these two highly politicized countries - and only EWTN will have crews on the ground to provide you with the most complete and authoritative coverage available. Because EWTN was there with Pope John Paul II and continues to broadcast into Cuba and Mexico daily, only EWTN can compare and contrast the two visits with the authority you’ve come to expect.
On the English side, EWTN News Director Raymond Arroyo, who has anchored more papal events than anyone in the industry and who covered John Paul II’s visit in 1998, will direct our coverage. Father Roberto Cid, Director of Radio Paz in the Archdiocese of Miami, and Msgr. Heberto Diaz, vicar general of the Diocese of Brownsville, Texas will join Arroyo to provide color commentary. In Cuba, a political highlight will be the meeting with President Castro, but for the people, one of the highlights of the trip will be the Pope’s visit to the Shrine of the Virgin of Charity at 10:30 a.m. ET, Tuesday, March 27, to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the discovery of her statue in the Bay of Nipe.
On the Spanish side, EWTN Español will feature four anchors: EWTN "Nuestra Fe En Vivo" Host Pepe Alonso; Father Jose Menendez, pastor of Corpus Christi Parish, in Miami; Jaime Septiem, General Director of El Observador, a Catholic newspaper in Queretaro, Mexico, and host of EWTN’s weekly show "Ventana Abierta" on EWTN Español, on the ground in Mexico; and Alejandro Bermudez, director of EWTN Noticias and ACI Prensa, on the ground in Cuba. One of the highlights of the Mexico trip will occur at 7:30 p.m. ET, Sunday, March 25, when the Pope will meet not only with the Mexican bishops, but also with the heads of the Episcopal Conference of Latin America; in other words, the hierarchy of the entire Hispanic Catholic Church in North America.
According to Enrique Duprat, EWTN’s Director of Spanish Production, "Pope Benedict has made it clear that the ‘new evangelization’ includes efforts to reach out to countries that were already Christianized, but where Catholics and other Christians are still fighting for religious freedom."
To view the complete schedule on EWTN (English), please click here: http://www.ewtn.com/papalvisitmxcu2012/coverage.asp . For coverage on the EWTN Global Catholic Radio Network, please click here: http://www.ewtn.com/radio/index.asp . (Find EWTN on cable or satellite at www.ewtn.com/channelfinder , streaming audio or video on the Intranet at http://origin.ewtn.com/audiovideo/index.asp , via shortwave at http://www.ewtn.com/radio/freq.htm , via EWTN mobile at http://www.ewtn.com/mobi/ , on the EWTN Radio Network via our affiliates at http://www.ewtn.com/radio/amfm.htm , or on satellite radio at http://www.sirius.com/ewtn .)
For the complete schedule on EWTN Español (Spanish), please click here: http://www.ewtn.com/PapaMexicoCuba2012/cobertura.asp . Find EWTN Español via streaming audio or video on the Internet at http://www.ewtn.com/espanol/index.asp . Find programming information for EWTN Radio Católica Mundial at http://www.ewtn.com/espanol/radio/index.asp and hear live radio coverage on the Internet at http://www.ewtn.com/Live/unicorn/jwplayer.asp?bottom=false&feed=radiospanish ,
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