TV Picks May 20 - 26

SUNDAY, 6 a.m.

Pilgrimage to the Shrines of Eastern Europe

EWTN Father Benedict Groeschel leads pilgrims to an Eastern Europe liberated from atheistic communism. Pray at the Shrine of the Infant of Prague in the Church of Our Lady of Victories, in the Czech Republic, at the Shrine of Jasna Gora, home of the Black Madonna, Our Lady of Czestochowa, Queen of Poland, and at other shrines.


SUNDAY, 9 p.m.

Expedition Bhutan

DISCOVERY CHANNEL With permission from the king of the remote Himalayan nation of Bhutan, a Discovery Channel team kayaks down the rapids of the Mangde Chu River, traverses dense jungle and enlists satellite technology to map uncharted wilderness.


MONDAY, 10 p.m.

City at War: London Calling

PBS Walter Cronkite returns to London, where he reported for United Press International during World War II. He tours historic sites, recalls the news broadcasts of Edward R. Murrow and recounts wartime hardships, the leadership of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and the service and sacrifices of Allied forces.


MONDAY-FRIDAY

John Wayne Centennial

AMC, ENCORE WESTERNS, TURNER CLASSIC MOVIES “He’s America’s Big Fella,” a visitor from Dublin once summed up actor and patriot John Wayne (1907-1979). AMC salutes him on May 26, his birthday, with nine of his films. The same day, Encore Westerns begins a 100-hour marathon that includes films from the 1930s. From Monday through Friday, Turner Classic Movies screens 35 of the Duke’s films. Advisory: TV-PG.


WEDNESDAY, 10 p.m.

Grunt Padre in Vietnam

EWTN U.S. infantrymen in the Vietnam War dubbed themselves “grunts,” supposedly from the sound they made lifting their packs. Maryknoll Father Vincent Capodanno, a Navy chaplain, died for his beloved U.S. Marine “grunts” on Sept. 4, 1967, as he gave them the last rites and assisted the wounded under close-range heavy fire. He was awarded the Medal of Honor, and his cause for canonization is under way. Re-airs 5 a.m. Saturday.


FRIDAY, 9 a.m., 3 p.m.

Indian Warriors: The Untold Story of the Civil War

HISTORY CHANNEL Leaders of the 20,000-30,000 American Indians who fought in the U.S. Civil War included the Confederacy’s Stand Watie (a Cherokee) and the Union’s Ely Parker (a Seneca). Advisory: TV-PG.


SATURDAY, 8 p.m.

Ukraine: Emerging From the Catacombs

EWTN Byzantine-rite Ukrainian Greek Catholics are in union with Rome. This tremendously moving video captures the heroism with which they preserved the faith under decades of Soviet mass murder, imprisonment and torture, and the joy with which they are reestablishing the Church in Ukraine after outlasting their communist persecutors. A re-air.

Dan Engler writes from
Santa Barbara, California.

Palestinian Christians celebrate Easter Sunday Mass at Holy Family Church in Gaza City on March 31, amid the ongoing battles Israel and the Hamas militant group.

People Explain ‘Why I Go to Mass’

‘Why go to Mass on Sundays? It is not enough to answer that it is a precept of the Church. … We Christians need to participate in Sunday Mass because only with the grace of Jesus, with his living presence in us and among us, can we put into practice his commandment, and thus be his credible witnesses.’ —Pope Francis

Palestinian Christians celebrate Easter Sunday Mass at Holy Family Church in Gaza City on March 31, amid the ongoing battles Israel and the Hamas militant group.

People Explain ‘Why I Go to Mass’

‘Why go to Mass on Sundays? It is not enough to answer that it is a precept of the Church. … We Christians need to participate in Sunday Mass because only with the grace of Jesus, with his living presence in us and among us, can we put into practice his commandment, and thus be his credible witnesses.’ —Pope Francis