Boston College Jesuit assists Michael Schiavo's in Amicus Curae

Researching the Schiavo case from a bioethics standpoint i came across a Jesuit professor at Boston College, Rev. John J. Paris and was surprised to find that he had contributed to a amicus curiae in favor of Michael Schiavo having custody rights for Terry Schiavo. He did this as a priest. Did he know that Michael Schiavo was living with another woman and had children with her? Had he seen the affidavit from the nurse who took care of her for a year? See Affidavit

"Finally, the Governor [Jeb Bush]suggests that the bioethical landscape may have changed because Terri Schiavo was raised Catholic and the Pope recently opined in a speech that tube feeding is morally obligatory. See id. at 48. But from the perspective of the Catholic Health Association of the United States (CHA) and many Catholic theologians, the Pope’s speech has not changed anything concerning the centuries-old teachings of the Catholic Church on the care due to patients. See Ronald Hamel & 17 Michael Panicola, Must We Preserve Life?, America, Nat’l Catholic Wkly. (Apr. 19-26, 2004) vol. 190, no. 14, at 6-13.

The Pope noted in his speech that patients in a persistent vegetative state (PVS), like anyone else, have “the right to basic health care.” Address of John Paul II to the Participants in the International Congress on “Life-Sustaining Treatments and Vegetative State: Scientific Advances and EthicalDilemmas” (Mar. 20, 2004). The duty toward such patients must be appraised within the broader context of the medical care due to all people. The Catholic teaching on that topic is found in such formal pronouncements as the 1980 Vatican Declaration on Euthanasia and John Paul II’s 1995 encyclical “Evangelium Vitae,” both of which acknowledge the right of a patient or proxy to decline disproportionately burdensome medical treatment. See J. Paris, S.J., The Catholic Tradition on the Use of Nutrition and Fluids, Birth, Suffering and Death 189-208 (K. Wildes ed., 1992).

For decades, Catholic hospitals in the United States have followed policies allowing the withdrawal of feeding tubes in accordance with these documents. Nothing in the Pope’s recent statement has caused the CHA to change its policies with regard to PVS patients. To the contrary, the CHA has announced that, even after the Pope’s statement, those policies will “remain[] in effect.” See News Release, Catholic Health Association of the United States, Statement on the Papal Allocution on Persistent Vegetative State (Apr. 1, 2004)."

Clearly Terri Schiavo is not in a persistant vegatative state. And common sense would tell you that either the husband should divorce his wife and let the parents take care of her or explain why he has an interest in her living when he is living with another woman.

Instead of being careful and stating the church's teaching he is making a public scandal by publically defying what the Church is teaching (both the U.S. bishops and Rome have come out in favor of Terri Schiavo keeping her feeding tube) saying "This has nothing to do with the sanctity of life" and saying that "only the Christian right is keeping her alive."

Why the attack on the "Christian right?" Are her parents and family the "Christian right?" Is the House and the Senate the "Christian right?" Is Cardinal Keeler the "Christian right" when he said "The case of Terri Schindler Schiavo in Florida," wrote Cardinal Keeler, "has focused national attention on the plight of patients diagnosed as being in a 'vegetative' state.

"In a speech last year, Pope John Paul II affirmed the inherent dignity of every human being: 'Even our brothers and sisters who find themselves in the clinical condition of a "vegetative state,"' he said, 'retain their human dignity in all its fullness.' They are not 'vegetables,' but fellow human beings in need of our love and care."

The Pope, the cardinal continued, "reminded us that providing water and food, even by artificial means, is 'morally obligatory, insofar as and until it is seen to have attained its proper finality, which in the present case consists in providing nourishment to the patient and alleviation of his suffering.'"

Cardinal Keeler added: "I applaud the February 28 statement of the Catholic bishops of Florida, applying this teaching to the Schiavo case. (See USCCB Statement)

"The bishops reiterated their plea that Terri Schindler Schiavo 'continue to receive all treatments and care that will be of benefit to her.' I join with them in praying that those who hold power over Terri Schindler Schiavo's fate will see that she 'continues to receive nourishment, comfort and loving care.'"

Father Paris seems to have missed this other member of the "Christian right," Cardinal Renato Martino's (former UN Observer from the Vatican) statement that "She will die a horrible and cruel death. She will not simply die; she will have death inflicted upon her over a number of terrible days even weeks . . . how is it that this woman, who has done nothing wrong, will suffer a fate which society would never tolerate in the case of a convicted murderer or anyone else convicted of the most horrendous crimes?"

"Christian right" or consistant teaching of the Pastor's of the Church and rightful indignation of the sensus fidei, (i.e. the awareness of faith felt and experienced by the ordinary faithful who share in the overall prophetic office of the Church and in the Church's inerrancy.) that something terribly wrong is going on here.

The half truth part of the picture that Fr. Paris is using to deceive people is the notion of "persistant vegatative state." If she were in a persistant vegatative state and unable to comuunicate etc... that would be one thing. But her nurse said today on television that she was making progress and Michael Schiavo was doing all he could to keep her from therapy and even gave her some insulin to kill her. She went to the police and was fired from her job.

Remember, "whatever you do to the least of my brothers (or sisters), you do to me"

For me that is what is case is all about. A man out to legally get rid of his wife for good and a woman whose legal rights are being trampled on. But we have faith that God is watching and will judge rightly. People do terrible things to others everyday. So let's pray for Fr. Paris, for aiding and abetting the death of a woman, Michael Schiavo for trying to kill his wife, and for and her family, for the strength to carry on and trust in God.

Glorious St. Michael, Prince of the heavenly hosts, who standest always ready to give assistance to the people of God; who didst fight with the dragon, the old serpent, and didst cast him out of heaven, and now valiantly defendest the Church of God that the gates of hell may never prevail against her, I earnestly entreat thee to assist all involved with Terri Schiavo also, in the painful and dangerous conflict which they have to sustain against the same formidible foe. Be with them, O mighty Prince! that they may courageously fight and wholly vanquish that proud spirit, whom thou hast by the Divine Power, so gloriously overthrown, and whom our powerful King, Jesus Christ, has, in our nature, so completely overcome; to the end that having triumphed over the enemy of my salvation, I may with thee and the holy angels, praise the clemency of God who, having refused mercy to the rebellious angels after their fall, has granted repentance and forgiveness to fallen man. Amen.

August Queen of Heaven! Sovereign Mistress of the angels! Thou who from the beginning hast received from God the power and mission to crush the head of Satan, we humbly beseech thee to send thy holy Legions, that, under thy command and by thy power, they may pursue the evil spirits, encounter them on every side, resist their bold attacks and drive them hence into the abyss of eternal woe. Amen.

Prayer for the Sick Omnipotent and eternal God, the everlasting Salvation of those who believe, hear us on behalf of Thy sick servant, Terri Schiavo, for whom we beg the aid of Thy pitying mercy, that, with her bodily health restored, she may give thanks to Thee in Thy church. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

O great St. Peregrine, you have been called "The Mighty," "The Wonder-Worker," because of the numerous miracles which you have obtained from God for those who have had recourse to you. For so many years you bore in your own flesh this cancerous disease that destroys the very fiber of our being, and who had recourse to the source of all grace when the power of man could do no more. You were favored with the vision of Jesus coming down from His Cross to heal your affliction. Ask of God and Our Lady, the cure of the sick whom we entrust to you. Especially, Terri Schiavo.

Aided in this way by your powerful intercession, we shall sing to God, now and for all eternity, a song of gratitude for His great goodness and mercy. Amen.

Having read the brief, I can say with certainty that the arguments for killing Terri are pure BS. First, the language criticizes the Governor for making a "political" decision, which, of course is as far from the truth as you can get. Jeb Bush faced great political risk in making his decision in favor of Teri's Law. He was attempting to act to protect an innocent life in the only way he thought he could. These guys writing the brief obviously have an anti Bush agenda. Furthermore, they state that Teri's wishes were determined by "clear and compelling evidence". That is ludicrous. Even a cursory review of the timeline and the events in this case would convince any unbiased person that the evidence is ambiguous at best. Just as in a capital crime, when there is doubt the decision should favor life. This is a clear case of the legal positivists demanding that one ignore moral law and simply follow the established codes. My god! If only the Germans in the 1930's had resisted this error the world would be a far better place today.

While Jesuits tend to be the most liberal brothers of the catholic order, they also stand for a more educated and integral view on life. This correlation makes sense, for liberalism increases as education increases (a study by UCLA’s Higher Education Research Institute found that 48% of our nation’s full time undergraduate professors identify themselves as "liberal" or "far left" while only 18% identify themselves as "conservative" or "far right").

Fr. Paris is correct in his opinions in the Schiavo case. He supports his arguments with official policies of the church as an organization and not with the opinions of individual men. (In this writer's opinion, in the pope's increasing years and decreasing health, cardinals have been "influencing" the Pope's ideas more and more) If you have read Pope John Paul II’s "Evangelium Vitae," you will see that it addresses the idea of human dignity, while still arriving at the same conclusion of burdensome medical treatment: it can be withheld. When it comes to church doctrine, official Vatican declarations and well thought out articles should take precedence over opinions and hurried speeches. It sounds to me that the bishops and priests have made personal decisions about the outcome of the Schiavo case, and are not necessarily embracing the church's (as an organization) standpoint.

If teams of physicians and neurologists agree that Terri is in PVS than it is up to us to believe them. Their years of training and specialization make them much more qualified than anyone to determine her chances of recovery. The nurse's ideas of improvements should be disregarded, for she lacks the scientific understanding to make such observations.

I was a student of Father Paris' at Holy Cross College. When I took his Law, Medicine & Ethics seminar, I was politically conservative, and I am even more so now. I was a devout Catholic before I went to HC, and I still attend weekly Catholic mass.

Father Paris is not politically conservative. He is, however, exactly right on the Terry Schiavo matter, and you can make a strong conservative case for his position.

Here's the analysis:

Most conservatives would agree that "living will" legislation serves fundamentally conservative goals. It authorizes an individual to execute a document by which a person expresses his will that when he is no longer capable of speaking for himself because of, among other things, a persistent vegetative state ("PVS"), his wishes are made clear that no-one (not even doctors facing arrest by marshals or sheriffs sent by a judge) can force him to undergo artificial means to prolong his life. Living will legislation is extraordinary in this day and age, because it gives an individual the right to prospectively trump any government efforts to frustrate his will.

I don't think that any conservative would say that a court could morally decree the insertion of a feeding tube in a person in a PVS where that person has expressed the will not to suffer such invasion.

On the issue of a feeding tube as "invasion," let's not be stupid: artificial nutrition involves insertion of either a nasogastric tube or cutting a hole in the abdomen -- acts that any conservative would agree that the state could not force an individual to undergo without that person's consent.

When a person is disabled without a living will, and the question of continuing medical treatment arises, courts are asked to determine what the incapacitated person would have wanted to happen to him in this situation (a living will is designed to avoid this process). A court is also asked to decide whether the disabled person is in a state where extraordinary medical measures do not amount to medical treatment (e.g., artificially respirating or feeding a person in a persistent vegetative state). This process is an effort to give respect to the wishes of an individual that might not have expressed those wishes in a living will.

In the Schiavo case, court after court has decided that Terry is in a PVS, and that she would have not wanted her life to be artificially prolonged were she in this situation. Many feel that these rulings are factually incorrect, but those are the findings.

Conservatives should be careful not to argue against giving respect to judicial findings. In the election cases arising from Florida, conservatives properly argued that the country should abide by the judicial process's conclusions of fact and law, ultimately decided by the United States Supreme Court. In the area of the death penalty, conservatives properly argue that persons should be put to death based upon courts' determinations of fact and law. In both the election cases and in death penalty cases, conservatives properly contend that the parties that lost and lose those cases should live with the decisions, because we agree in this republic to allocate tough decisions to the judiciary, even in issues of how we choose to govern ourselves and in matters of life and death.

In the Schiavo case, the parents failed to persuade the courts that she was not in a PVS, and that she would have wanted to be artificially prolonged were she in one. The court's order based on these findings -- that the feeding tube should be removed -- is an act of respect to the will of Terry, and and a blow to the power of the state that might order the insertion of one in her nose or abdomen against her will.

As Father Paris correctly shows, church teaching does not morally command man to undergo whatever procedures man might devise (or the state might order) to postpone a death that God put in motion, if such procedures would offer no hope at all of a doomed person getting better. This perspective shows the most respect to the individual against the state, and demonstrates the most faith in a life after death.

I am baffled how people who claim to believe in the existence of a peaceful afterlife with God (as I do) so fear Terry coming face to face with Him. In this case, religious fundamentalists are celebrating man's ability to prolong the life of a collection of cells that God (for whatever His reasons) has chosen to deprive of **any** ability to think, love, or pray. If you argue against these facts, then you are just arguing that the courts got it wrong, and we conservatives ask folks to respect courts.

As a conservative who is very suspicious of any state authority, the facts decided by the courts command the result that Terry's wishes be carried out. I pray and believe that Terry will be in a far better place than her hospital bed very soon.

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