(ZENIT News / Rome, 02.17.2026).- Four decades after a cloistered nun in Alabama launched a small Catholic television network, the world’s largest Catholic media organization is reshaping how it tells the Church’s story. On January 15, Eternal Word Television Network announced a sweeping consolidation of its news operations, bringing together Catholic News Agency and its international affiliates under a single global identity: EWTN News.
The move is more than cosmetic. It marks the formal integration of a network of regional and language-based outlets that, for over a decade, operated with distinct names and branding. Catholic News Agency, founded in Denver in 2004 and acquired by EWTN in 2014, and the various language services of the ACI Group — also incorporated into EWTN that same year — will now function under one unified editorial structure and brand architecture.
The transition became visible to readers with the launch of a new digital platform, EWTNNews.com, initially in English. A Spanish-language edition is expected to follow shortly, with five additional languages — French, Portuguese, Italian, German and Arabic — continuing to be integrated. The unification process culminated symbolically on January 24, the feast of St. Francis de Sales, patron saint of journalists, when traffic from catholicnewsagency.com was fully redirected to the new site.
The strategic shift reflects a maturation of EWTN’s news enterprise. What began as parallel regional operations reporting from the United States, Peru, the Vatican, Kenya, Brazil, Germany, Italy and Iraq is now being streamlined into a coordinated global newsroom. Linguistic teams remain geographically distributed, but the editorial vision is centralized.
Michael P. Warsaw, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of EWTN, framed the consolidation as an expression of institutional identity rather than a branding exercise. In his view, the new structure underscores EWTN’s vocation as a global news organization rooted in Catholic teaching and committed to delivering journalism marked by accuracy and conviction.
Montse Alvarado, president of EWTN News, emphasized that the integration goes beyond logos and domain names. She described it as a deeper alignment of mission, editorial direction and operations — an effort to ensure that reporting across continents reflects a coherent understanding of the Church while adapting to evolving modes of storytelling. In her remarks, she linked the initiative to what she described as the Holy Father’s call to serve truth with both charity and courage.
Ken Oliver-Méndez, editor-in-chief of the English-language service, characterized the transition as the culmination of years of preparation. For him, folding Catholic News Agency fully into EWTN News signals a newsroom that has reached institutional coherence, capable of combining technological innovation with a clear ecclesial perspective.
The digital overhaul is not incidental. Updated visual elements — layout, typography and color palette — aim to enhance user experience in an increasingly competitive online environment. Notably, devotional resources such as daily Mass readings have been embedded into the site, further blurring the line between information, catechesis and prayer.
This integration forms part of a broader initiative known internally as EWTN Next, which focuses on technological development and mission-driven growth. Among the projects planned for 2026 is EWTN+, a streaming platform designed to deliver more integrated and on-demand content.
The scale of EWTN’s reach underscores the significance of the rebrand. The network’s 11 global television channels and numerous regional services broadcast 24 hours a day to more than 435 million television households in over 160 countries and territories. Its radio operations include distribution through SiriusXM, iHeartRadio and more than 600 AM and FM affiliates worldwide, in addition to a global shortwave service. Its publishing arm and digital platforms — including ChurchPOP and The National Catholic Register, a nearly 100-year-old biweekly newspaper with a substantial online presence — extend its influence across multiple media formats.
Headquartered in Washington, D.C., EWTN News now operates as the multilingual news division of the EWTN Global Catholic Network. With correspondents and language teams spanning North and South America, Europe, Africa and the Middle East, it produces journalism in seven languages for a global Catholic audience.
The consolidation also reflects broader shifts in Catholic media. In an era when information flows instantaneously and local ecclesial events can have global implications, maintaining separate regional brands may dilute impact and create redundancies. A unified structure allows for coordinated coverage of Vatican developments, episcopal conferences, missionary initiatives and social debates affecting the Church worldwide.
At the same time, the challenge will be to preserve regional nuance within a centralized framework. Catholicism is both universal and local; its expression varies across cultures, even as it remains doctrinally cohesive. EWTN’s experiment in integration will test whether a global newsroom can capture that complexity without flattening it.
When Mother Angelica founded EWTN in 1981, she could scarcely have imagined a digital ecosystem in which Catholic news circulates instantly across continents. Yet the decision to consolidate under EWTN News suggests an organization intent on adapting to that ecosystem while reaffirming its ecclesial identity.
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