Raymond Arroyo’s life has been repeatedly marked by great lessons, and behind all of life’s great lessons are excellent teachers. It is such teachers that Arroyo credits for his interest in theater, his work as a broadcast journalist with the Eternal Word Television Network, and his Catholic faith. Arroyo grew up one of two brothers among the vibrant faith, food, liturgical celebrations, and Catholic ethnicity of New Orleans. He credits the Christian Brothers, who taught him in the fifth through seventh grades, for providing him with a rich cultural education.

“It was a pivotal time for me,” Arroyo explains. “The Christian Brothers, Brother Raphael in particular, awakened me to language and planted the seed of my lifelong love for language, writing and theater. Their work is a testament to the importance of the religious educational vocation.
“The world was our school. They took us golfing and to the Museum of Art. The education I received was fully Catholic. The Church operates at its best when you soak up the truth by being in its presence. I learned by osmosis, and through great instruction, of course.”

Arroyo’s studies took him from New Orleans to New York, where he attended New York University on a theater scholarship and studied under renowned acting instructor Stella Adler. Adler taught such students as Marlon Brando and Candice Bergen. Arroyo says he is still haunted by one of Adler’s lessons: “‘In your choice, lies your talent,’ she would tell us. I’ve never forgotten that.” He considered transferring to Columbia to pursue journalism, but thought better of the decision. “It’s an utterly wasted major,” says Arroyo. “You learn so much more from spending time with other writers and having people critique your work.” Arroyo says that NYU provided him the cultural training and worldview he needed to be a good writer. He graduated with a major in political science and theater and a minor in journalism. He also met his future wife while a student at NYU.

After teaching and working in London, Arroyo eventually grew tired of acting and came back to the U.S. “I was classically trained for something there wasn’t a whole lot of. I didn’t see the kinds of things that I wanted to be a part of,” he explains. So he segued into journalism and began working with the Associated Press in New York, followed by his work as a Capitol Hill correspondent with the Family Channel.

In 1996, while doing a feature story for Crisis Magazine, Arroyo first met Mother Angelica. “She asked me to come to Alaba-ma to establish a news presence for EWTN,” recalls Arroyo. He explained to her what kind of staff he would need. She responded, “No, we want just you.” With humor Arroyo imitates Mother’s admonition that “It would be good for you spiritually.”

“In many ways she has been right,” admits Arroyo. “For many people, work becomes a challenge to their faith. They are asked to do things or witness things that compromise their beliefs.” At EWTN, says Arroyo, “there is a sense that we are promoting a culture of life and we are trying to enrich the culture with the message of truth. In that respect there is no conflict between what I believe and what I do.”

As news director for EWTN, Arroyo produces the Friday evening newsmagazine The World Over. But that is only the tip of the iceberg. He is also responsible for the coverage of major live events and prepares two or three brief Newslinks aired on EWTN each evening.

Most of his time, he admits, is spent doing research and writing. The job also requires a lot of travel. “We’re not in a news capital, so I’m traveling once a month or doing interviews by satellite.” Originally on his own, Arroyo now has three full-time people on staff.

“It’s an exhausting time to be a journalist,” says Arroyo. “The Jubilee has been a fascinating thing to watch happen. There is an urgency about Pope John Paul II’s pontificate. As you watch him going around the world he seems to be tying up a lot of loose ends. Whether it’s watching him open the Holy Door, visit the Holy Land, or canonize Sister Faustina or Jacinta and Francisco Marto, one senses that this is a very personal and grace-filled time for him.”

“I have the rare privilege,” he notes, “to witness and report on events that have more import than the normal news of the day because they are in the spiritual realm. When you see John Paul II, his spiritual fullness overflows. The fall of Communism was not a mistake. He was providentially chosen by God to come at this moment for a reason. There is something remarkable about being able to bring people the Pope live. His presence is compelling. It draws people and convicts them. Witnessing these events so closely has strengthened my faith.”

Adds Arroyo, “I cannot imagine a non-Catholic doing what I do. Because I’ve spent my life immersed in the Church I have this deep reservoir from which to draw. There is very little Catholic sensibility in most religious coverage. With our coverage, we attempt to put these events into a historical and Catholic context so that anyone dropping in has an understanding of what an event means to the Church and the world. Church lingo, tradition, and ancient practices can sometimes make it hard to explain. It’s something which must constantly be re-explained.”

As an example, he cites the media’s secular reporting on a mystical event — the revelation of the third secret of Fatima. “Some of their coverage was wacky. Catholicism, unlike some religions, makes more sense,” commented Arroyo.

Arroyo recalls his years as a Capitol Hill reporter. “The reporters in Washington become a pack. They cover politics, and everything becomes ideological. It’s a simple way of covering the world because people have an instant reaction to it. I ran after the same story that everyone else ran after, and basically it is the same story year after year after year after year, just with different names. It fails to touch people.”

“Our news, however, affects people,” says Arroyo. He acknowledges that there is no one else in the business doing what he does. “Most reporters,” he says, “are uncomfortable with the subject of faith. Yet it is a subject which resonates with people so much more deeply. People have written to tell us that their lives have changed because of our coverage. In fact, we recently got a letter from one forty-five-year-old man who had watched the Pope’s visit to the Holy Land. During the coverage a priest spoke about the importance of repentance. As a result, this man returned to the faith after having been away for more than thirty years. Those are the kinds of things that make it all worthwhile.

“Every belief and feeling that people have stems from their core religious faith. Mother Angelica has tapped into this. It is the secret of her success. EWTN is the only place that most people can hear a priest talk about the Catechism. It is the only place where people can come and hear an unfiltered, clear version of events happening in the Church and the world. We’re not spinning it. There is no political agenda.”

EWTN, he says, offers an oasis for families that are flipping through channels. “It is a place that shares the values and beliefs of your family. You’re not going to be assaulted.” In addition to his work with EWTN, Arroyo has done theater and film reviews for Crisis Magazine, Our Sunday Visitor, and the National Catholic Register. He believes the major problem the Church faces today is its abdication of the popular culture.

“We have retreated,” he says. “We refuse to offer excellent alternatives in the place of ideas and entertainment. Until we see that, our children will suffer greatly. It is a bitter chalice from which they will drink.” He hopes that his work is contributing to the beginnings of a renaissance in some small way. “Ennobling offerings will draw people into what is good rather than dragging them into the mire.”

If Arroyo has learned any lessons from his time at EWTN, it is from Mother Angelica’s example of “marching forward and doing.” “You have to do something outrageous enough that only God can save you. Events just seem to come out of the woodwork and somehow, by the grace of God, we rise to the occasion. That’s how we exist here.”

What have been the rewards? “Through my work,” says Arroyo, “I’ve met all my heroes. I met most of my acting heroes or saw them at work, and have also met my spiritual heroes: Mother Teresa and Pope John Paul II. To have met them personally is an immeasurable gift that I will eternally be grateful to Mother Angelica for.” Although he’s never claimed to be a saint, he has been privileged to bring saints to the world. “That’s not a bad job,” he says.

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