Holy See Grieved by Terri Schiavo's Death - describes death as a homicide

Zenit News Agency ^ | 040105 | Vatican Spokesman

[Fred]

Holy See Grieved by Terri Schiavo's Death Reaction of Vatican Spokesman and Cardinal

VATICAN CITY, APRIL 1, 2005 (Zenit.org).- The Holy See officially expressed its sadness over the death of the brain-damaged woman in Florida who died of starvation after her husband had her feeding tube removed.

On Thursday afternoon, Joaquín Navarro Valls, director of the Vatican press office, said that the circumstances surrounding Terri Schiavo’s death have "rightly upset consciences."

"A life was interrupted. Death was arbitrarily anticipated, because feeding a person can never be considered as drastic therapy," said the Vatican spokesman in a statement.

"There is no doubt that there can be no exceptions to the principle of the sacredness of life, from conception to its natural end. In addition to being a principle of Christian ethics, this has also been a principle of human civilization," added the text.

"It is to be hoped that, because of this dramatic experience, a greater awareness of human dignity will mature in public opinion and that this will lead to greater defense of life, even on a legal level," concluded Navarro Valls.

Cardinal Renato Martino, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, described Terri Schiavo's death as a homicide, in face of which one cannot be indifferent without becoming an accomplice."

Cardinal Martino added that it was "an unjust sentence to death of an innocent, by one of the most inhuman and cruel forms, hunger and thirst." ZE05040104

[fortunecookie]

I personally thought that his own grief over the death of Sr. Lucia and the whole Terri fiasco resulting in her death did more to stress and weaken his already weakened health than the illnesses themselves.

[Salvation]

And against the Catholic Church's teachings!

The Catechism of the Catholic Church

Euthanasia

2276 Those whose lives are diminished or weakened deserve special respect. Sick or handicapped persons should be helped to lead lives as normal as possible.

2277 Whatever its motives and means, direct euthanasia consists in putting an end to the lives of handicapped, sick, or dying persons. It is morally unacceptable.

Thus an act or omission which, of itself or by intention, causes death in order to eliminate suffering constitutes a murder gravely contrary to the dignity of the human person and to the respect due to the living God, his Creator. The error of judgment into which one can fall in good faith does not change the nature of this murderous act, which must always be forbidden and excluded.

2278 Discontinuing medical procedures that are burdensome, dangerous, extraordinary, or disproportionate to the expected outcome can be legitimate; it is the refusal of "over-zealous" treatment. Here one does not will to cause death; one's inability to impede it is merely accepted. The decisions should be made by the patient if he is competent and able or, if not, by those legally entitled to act for the patient, whose reasonable will and legitimate interests must always be respected.

2279 Even if death is thought imminent, the ordinary care owed to a sick person cannot be legitimately interrupted. The use of painkillers to alleviate the sufferings of the dying, even at the risk of shortening their days, can be morally in conformity with human dignity if death is not willed as either an end or a means, but only foreseen and tolerated as inevitable Palliative care is a special form of disinterested charity. As such it should be encouraged.

[citizencon]

Murder in the eyes of God. The liberal community's argument was she had been in that vegetative state for 15 years, it was time for Terri Schiavo to die. Only God can decide our fate. Besides, was it Terri's fault that she became comatose? Did she want to be in that state? Our liberal justice system condemned her to die.

[harpo11]

"Yet Felos maintains that witholding nutrients and liquids isn't starvation."

Perhaps, Felos should call it Hillary Care.

[jonrick46]

"an unjust sentence to death of an innocent, by one of the most inhuman and cruel forms, hunger and thirst."

This description is precise. What is so depraved about those like George Felos is the extent they refuse to acknowledge the truth of their inhumanity. They pretend to justify their actions with statements that say they were doing it out of love. Actually they were using the cover of law to discard a human using a death technique of the most cruel form. What we need to do is put our outrage to work to prevent this type of technique from ever being used to end life. Let God deliver the judgement to these murderers. He may deliver consequences to them in this life that may be a taste of what they will experience in the afterlife. And when these events happen they will be delivered free of charge from our Creator.

[pj_627]

"Can we really call it homicide if those were her wishes?"


IF...that is really the crux of the whole thing to me. IF this was what SHE wanted, then I would have been able to accept what was happening....more or less. The decision would have been hers....as well as the responsibility.

However....from everything I have read, and I have read a LOT about this case, there is a lot of uncertainty about just whose idea this really was. She left nothing in writing. And her......husband.......has MAJOR conflicts of interest here. And I am sorry, just because Greer chose to accept Michael's story as to her wishes, that is just not enough. There were other people, who knew her very well, who stated her feelings were quite different from what Michael said. For some reason the judge decided that hubby's hearsay was more credible than her friends hearsay.

Look, how many of us have watched a televsion show or movie where someone was seriously ill and hooked onto life support, REAL life support and not just food and water? How many of us, caught up in the emotions a film like this evokes, have said, "gee, I would never want to live like that"? That's a normal enough reaction. If Terri really did make that comment while watching some TV show, is that enough to settle, with certainty, the issue of what HER wishes truly were? She was in her middle twenties when this comment was, allegedly, made. In my twenties, my mind was ANYWHERE but on what to do with me if I was in an terrible accident and ended up severely brain damaged and unable to communicate. I don't think she had ever, seriously, considered the possiblility.

So yes, I, personally, feel this was homicide because it is just so unclear how young Terri really felt.

pattyjo

[Raycpa]

Can we really call it homicide if those were her wishes?

If your neighbor asks you to kill him and you do, its homicide.

[maine-iac7]

Oh, well, a double post.

well - it bears repeating

[muawiyah]

Yes, and if you lock him in your basement and then deprive him of food and water until he dies, we are going to put you away in a hospital for the criminally insane for the rest of your life.

That's where George Greer is going. He doesn't know it yet, but the man is a total whack job ~ now that he's been outed it's just a matter of time until he's commited.

[harpo11]

Life a gift from God.

[maine-iac7]

The disappointment and shock of it has absolutely KILLED our PAPA! That's right, they've killed the POPE too.

Well, I don't think that - but I do have a picture in my mind of him escorting Terri, personally, to the gates on high. (If, as many believe, we don't ascend directly to the Father as soon as we die, but to a sort of way station ("paradise?") for the first 3 days...

(Jesus told the thief on the cross "today, thou shalt be with me in Paradise." And on the third day, when He appeared to Mary M. in the garden and she reached out to Him, He said: "Touch me not, for I have not yet descended to my Father.")

He, the Pope, was very aware of and concerned about Terri - who knows? Maybe that's his final assignment - or maybe he asked for it - to bring Terri home.

[maine-iac7]

Shouldn't she have been allowed to die if she wanted to?

I rather think she would have let go and been gone in a few days, rather than putting up the valiant struggle she did to stay alive.

I know someone who refused food and water - not wanting to live - even tho' not terminal, not even really sick - but could not be forced to eat against her will - law. It took less that a week.

[TAdams8591]

Surviving everything Terri survived in the last 15 years, was PROOF Terri wanted to live. Actions speak louder than words.

If Terri really wanted to go, she would have died much sooner.

[schmelvin]

Can we really call it homicide if those were her wishes? I cannot decide how I feel about this. What if she really did not want to live that way? Shouldn't she have been allowed to die if she wanted to? Wouldn't you want people to honor your wishes? The whole situation greatly saddens me, but will we ever know the real story?

Why is it automatically assumed that just because someone says they "wouldn't want to live that way" that they would rather die?

For example, we bought a single family home instead of a townhouse, because we didn't want to share walls with our neighbors. In other words: Because, "we didn't want to live that way". Did that mean we would rather die than live in a townhouse? NO!

I'm not trying to trivialize what happened to Terri based on the above example. In fact, the remark that Terri allegedly made that was used as "evidence" she "wanted" to be slowly tortured to death was just as trivial and off-handed as the one I made in my example. Supposedly while watching a movie (did Michael ever say what movie this was, BTW?) Terri said she wouldn't want to live like that. Michael specifically quoted her as saying, "No tubes for me". (No tubes. How convenient. Why do I get the feeling that Michael got a little coaching from Felos on that one?)

Terri's friends and family tell a different story. A friend of hers said that Terri was against Karen Ann Quinlan being removed from her respirator. The friend quoted Terri as saying, "Where there's life there's hope".

Plus, we need to keep in mind that Terri was Catholic, and Catholics do NOT believe in suicide. The vast majority of Christian denominations believe that suicide is a one-way ticket to hell. I'm a Christian, and I've done my share of backsliding in the past, but I have never, ever given suicide even a moment's consideration, and I never will.

That's another thing about Michael Shiavo's testimony about Terri's supposed wishes that really burns me. If he lied (and I'm of the opinion that he did) then not only did he falsely condemn her to death, but he slandered her character and good name by testifying that she had no qualms about committing what would be considered a mortal sin in the eyes of her church. (Not that he ever had any repect for her or her religious beliefs anyway, as evidenced by the fact that he needed to have his arm twisted to even allow his poor dying wife to receive her last rights.)

[ViLaLuz]

"Yet Felos maintains that witholding nutrients and liquids isn't starvation."

"Perhaps, Felos should call it Hillary Care."

That's EXACTLY what it is!

[the invisib1e hand]

In Honor of Terri Schiavo.

Please let load -- it's 11 mb.

Have headphones or sound on.