Father Frank Pavone visits Terri Schiavo

Florida Catholic ^ | October 2004 | Francis X. Shannon

[NYer]

Clearwater

Hours prior to addressing an overflow gathering at a pro-life banquet Sept. 18, Father Frank Pavone, national director of Priests for Life, and an outspoken right-to-life advocate, visited with Terri Schiavo.

The visit was the first time the priest has visited the disabled young woman who has been at the center of a contentious legal struggle between her husband, Michael, who wants to have the feeding tube that sustains her, removed. Terri Schiavo's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, believe she can benefit from rehabilitative therapy.

During his visit Father Pavone prayed for Terri with Msgr. Thaddeus Malanowski, her parents, brother and sister. "It was beautiful," Father Pavone said. "'Many people are praying for you from around the country,' I told her."

Father Pavone, who also spoke at a luncheon for fellow priests and deacons before visiting the Clearwater nursing home where Terri resides, said Terri seemed to show awareness during the visit. Medical experts differ on whether changes in Schiavo's eye movement and verbal and facial expressions are voluntary or involuntary. Father Pavone seemed to agree with the former assessment.

"She was following everything that was going on," he said. "She talks with her eyes. She's very much aware and alert."

Terri Schiavo suffered severe brain damage in 1990, when she suffered cardiac arrest, possibly related to an eating disorder, in the St. Petersburg apartment she shared with her husband. Her brain suffered oxygen deprivation, which resulted in brain damage and made her dependent upon a feeding tube for nutrition and hydration.

In 1998, after a falling-out with her parents over malpractice money and Schiavo's medical care, Michael Schiavo began his efforts to have his wife's feeding tube removed. Schiavo cannot swallow food on her own, so the removal would result in her death.

Michael Schiavo has insisted that Terri would not want to live in her current state and that she indicated that before her collapse. Terri's parents and her supporters question his compassion. They point out that although Michael Schiavo is legally married to Terri, in the years since his legal battles began with her parents he has fathered two children by another woman.

Last year, an appellate court allowed Michael Schiavo to remove Terri's feeding tube for six days before "Terri's Law," passed by Florida's Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Jeb Bush, required the resumption of feeding. That law was recently ruled unconstitutional.

Father Pavone singled out the judicial system and the medical professions as having a particular responsibility and impact in such cases involving the sanctity of life.

"All these fields have authority," he said, "What they cannot do is put a value judgment on the lives they're caring for. The job of our whole culture is to affirm life."

Father Pavone reiterated these points later that evening in his address to the Celebrate Life Banquet, hosted by Right to Life of Hillsborough County. The Schindlers were guests of honor. The priest emphasized the importance, especially in an election year, of people of faith being active in the electoral process, and getting other people of faith to be active and voting. He likened it to "picking oranges from an orange tree."

"There are plenty of oranges on the lower part of the tree, within reach," Father Pavone said. "Pick the oranges you can reach and don't worry about the ones you can't."

[NYer]

Bio-Sketch of Fr. Frank A. Pavone

Fr. Frank Pavone was born in Port Chester, New York and has been active in the pro-life movement since 1976. He was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of New York by Cardinal John O’Connor in 1988. He served for five years as a parish priest in Staten Island, and taught theology at St. Joseph’s Seminary and other institutions.

In 1993, with the permission of Cardinal O’Connor, he became National Director of Priests for Life. In this full time position, he has traveled to all of the 50 states and to five continents, preaching and teaching against abortion and helping other priests to do the same.

He conducts seminars on pro-life strategy and is regularly invited to speak at national and international pro-life gatherings. Fr. Pavone is often quoted in papers such at the New York Times, the Washington Times, and other national media. He has produced television and radio programs for EWTN, The Odyssey Network, Catholic Family Radio, Vatican Radio, and other outlets. He has appeared on national broadcasts such as Hannity and Colmes and The O'Reilly Factor. His articles on pro-life issues are regularly published around the world. Under his guidance, the Priests for Life staff has grown to 45 full-time paid employees.

Fr. Pavone was asked by Mother Teresa to address the clergy of India on the life issues. He was also asked to speak to the pro-life caucus of the United States House of Representatives.

Norma McCorvey, the "Jane Roe" of the Supreme Court’s abortion decision Roe vs. Wade, called Fr. Pavone "the catalyst that brought me into the Catholic Church."

In 1997 he was asked by the Vatican to help co-ordinate pro-life activities throughout the world as an official of the Pontifical Council for the Family.

In 1999, the Daily Catholic named Fr. Pavone among the Top 100 Catholics of the Century. He serves on Dr. James Dobson's Focus on the Family Institute. He is the recipient, for the year 2001, of the Proudly Pro-life Award of the National Right to Life Committee. In 2002, in recognition of his pro-life work, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the Franciscan University of Steubenville. In 2003, Fr. Pavone was elected to be the President of the National Pro-life Religious Council, a coalition of groups from many different denominations working to end abortion.

 

Priests for Life
PO Box 141172
Staten Island, NY 10314
Tel. 888-PFL-3448, (718) 980-4400
Fax 718-980-6515
Email mail@priestsforlife.org

Subscribe to Fr. Frank's bi-weekly prolife column (free): subscribe@priestsforlife.org 

[NYer]

[NYer]

"She talks with her eyes. She's very much aware and alert."

Pro life ping!

[mtbopfuyn]

"She was following everything that was going on," he said. "She talks with her eyes. She's very much aware and alert."

Wanna bet Greer will have the good Father banned from any witness list? How was he able to get into Terri's room without hino having him body slammed and hauled of in cuffs?

[TXBSAFH]

Prayers up.

[afraidfortherepublic]

I'm so glad that Fr. Pavone visited Terri and I hope that all of our prayers will do her some good. I sincerely pray that the Florida legaals system ends this volley ball match with this woman's life. Send her home to the loving arms of her parents where she can live out her life in peace.

[jmaroneps37]

I'm so proud that he is based on Staten Island. God bless you Father!

[cpforlife.org]

Terri PING….
Please let me know if you want on or off my Pro-Life Ping List.

[Askel5]

I'm sure his visit was a great comfort to Terri.

[countrydummy]

Prayer!!!!!!!

[Saundra Duffy]

God bless 'em all!! Go, Terri!!

[Saundra Duffy]

Amen to what you said!

[mickie]

What a wonderful day.

So glad that Msgr. Thaddeus Malanowski was also visiting Terri.

[Texagirl4W]

Governor Jeb Bush has fought hard for Terri. I sent him the following email on September 23.

"It is with much sadness that I read this morning that The Florida Supreme Court struck down a law to keep Terri Schiavo alive.

I want to personally thank you for your efforts to stop the doctors from removing her feeding tube. Your efforts did not go unnoticed. We are still praying that this senseless murder will not happen.

Sincerely,
(My name and email)"

I didn't get a reply nor did I expect one. Governor Bush is very busy and a reply wasn't necessary for me. I believe he knows we appreciate him even if we are not from Florida.

Thanks for the ping.

[cpforlife.org]

Very good, Texagirl4W!

[tuckrdout]

Thank you for the ping!

I have had many conversations with God about Teri. God has assured me that even though she is often left without human contact, He is always with her. She enjoys a very wonderful communion with Him! She is not lonely, nor alone!

It is wonderful that the priest was allowed to visit Terri.

Has Schiavo gained a little mercy? Could it be true that his own fatherhood has actually taught him a little humanity?

Why doesn't he live up to his obligations to his new wife and children? Why doesn't he just let Terri's parents take care of her? His money is gone. He now has children who need to see that he loves them more than anything else, and cares enough about them to marry their mother and make them legitamate. He is sending an awful message to his kids. His selfcentered actions have cost them a normal life.

Nothing hurts a parent more than our hurting children. Shame on Jodi for allowing her children to live without a proper father! Shame on her for sentencing her children to this awful lifelong burden, the shame they will carry being Schiavo's illegitamate children---children created while he was married to a woman he is trying to kill! Their father's shame will fall on their heads, poor babies! They will not be able to escape the shame in the United States.

[tuckrdout]

Thanks for the ping. This is good news, indeed.

Thinking a great deal about Michael and Jodi's children. It is so unfair that their parents have done this to them! They are victims too.

If Terri is killed at the urging of their father, think of the guilt and fear this will create in the children! The way kid's minds work, they will fear that their father will have them killed, if they become hospitalised! They will feel so guilty for Terri's death. Kids always take everything personally, and they will not be able to help feeling that her death is their fault!

Just think of the fear and disrespect this will create in their minds, for their own father and mother! Their mother had an affair with a man who was married to an ill woman. They will read about the details. They will know the truth, and they will suffer.

It is so unfair.

[mickie]

BTTT...

[Saundra Duffy]

Yahoo!