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Mourners Gather to Remember EWTN Founder Mother Angelica

FILE - A nun leaves the church at the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament, Aug. 4, 2006, in Hanceville, Alabama. Mother Mary Angelica founded the shrine and the Eternal Word Television Network in 1981.

Mourners are set to gather north of Birmingham, Alabama, to remember Eternal Word Television Network founder Mother Mary Angelica.

EWTN officials say the funeral Mass for the Roman Catholic nun known to millions of viewers as Mother Angelica is set for 11 a.m. Friday in Hanceville.

EWTN Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Michael P. Warsaw says she died Easter Sunday at the rural Alabama monastery where she lived about 45 miles north of Birmingham.

Mother Angelica had been in declining health since suffering a severe cerebral hemorrhage on Christmas Eve 2001. She lost her speaking ability and has suffered other less severe strokes.

Mother Angelica was born Rita Rizzo in Canton, Ohio, in 1923. Her television ministry began in the monastery's garage and grew into a worldwide religious broadcasting network.