I’m glad to read this, it seems alot of the time when a Catholic teaching matches a liberal point it is dismissed as optional part of the faith. Not there words but when you get to the bottom of it that’s what they are saying.
I was under the impression the Church was fine with what happened to Terri as it was just letting Nature take it’s course, especally when it was found her brain had rotted away a long time before the case came about.
There are many things you can find on the Internet that will tell you what happened to Terri. Here are a couple:
americanthinker.com/2005/04/john_paul_ii_and_terri_schiavo.html
catholicculture.org/news/features/index.cfm?recnum=37860
“Unfortunately, the public case for the dignity of life was weakened by the lack of a strong and uncompromised witness from the Catholic hierarchy in the US. Some individual bishops, such as Cardinal Justin Rigali of Philadelphia, Bishop Thomas Wenski of Orlando, and Archbishop Raymond Burke of St. Louis, spoke out admirably on behalf of Terri’s right to life. Cardinal William Keeler of Baltimore, chairman of the US bishops’ Committee for Pro-Life Activities, in a March 9 statement, urged that Terri should “continue to receive all treatments and care that will be of benefit to her.” He cited the words of Pope John Paul II (
bio -
news), reminding us that even people in a coma “retain their human dignity in all its fullness.” The cardinal added that “deliberately to remove [food and water] in order to hasten a patient’s death … would be a form of euthanasia, which is gravely wrong.” In spite of that statement, though, there seemed to be little movement at the national level to make a coordinated effort, in the name of the American bishops, in Terri’s case.
. . .
Where was a Catholic spokesman to present authentic Catholic teaching with episcopal authority to the public at large?
There was none. As the Catholic writer Amy Welborn wrote at her popular web log, “Open Book,” a “teachable moment,” a great opportunity for the American hierarchy to present the Catholic vision and teaching on human life to the nation, was lost through inaction.”
The Church was not fine with what happened to Terri. Pope John Paul II made that quite clear. Only bishops like those in Florida abandoned her. Church teaching is that food and water are normal care. Fr. Frank Pavone was advisor to the Schiavo family and was very much against what Michael was doing to Terri. She was starved to death–a slow painful experience for her. While she was starving to death, there were policemen guarding her room so that noone would be able to sneak in to give her even a little water. Some good people did try, and got arrested for their kindness. According to some medical professionals, Terri possibly could have been rehabilitated enough to have eaten by mouth. One nurse had fed her some pudding by mouth, but Michael had found out and angrily forbade her to do that.
If she had been allowed food and water she could possibly have lived another 30 or 40 years. And her brain had not “rotted away”. It had shrunk some from disuse, but key centers were still quite active, as evidenced by the fact that she was still very much alive and aware of her surroundings. That you think that shows that the media and her bishop did a good job of covering up what was actually happening to Terri.
I had been aware of Terri’s fight for years before she died and had read online testimony from nurses who stated under oath that Terri was able to communicate with them. She let them know when she was in pain and different things that she desired.
There were a lot of questions concerning her husband Michael. He had been alone with her the night she was “injured”, and there was never any satisfactory answer to what actually happened. He never allowed anyone to give her therapy, though medical professionals recommended it, and he himself had promised her parents that he would have it done. Whenever Michael caught a nurse being kind to Terri and trying to help her, he would have them dismissed from Terri’s case. He had Teri placed in a hospice, when she was absolutely not in any danger of dying.
Michael had a girl friend with whom he had children, and Terri’s parents wanted so much to care for her, so there was no reason that he needed to be burdened with Terri’s care. It would seem to have been a simple solution for him to divorce her and leave her to the care of her parents while he continued his life with his new girl friend. The whole thing just made no sense.
John Donne said in his poignant poem “any man’s death diminishes me” and I believe that Terri Schiavo’s death definitely did just that.
