Posted on 03/12/2005 4:02:09 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
As some Christians from around the state prepare to flood Florida's Capitol in a show of support for Terri Schiavo, the brain-damaged woman who has been in a vegetative state since 1990, a top Vatican official said Friday that removing Schiavo's feeding tube would be ``a pitiless way to kill.''
Monsignor Elio Sgreccia, the Vatican's chief bioethicist, said in an interview with Vatican Radio that removing Schiavo's feeding tube would be equivalent to euthanasia, The Associated Press reported.
Doctors say Schiavo is in a permanent vegetative state. While her husband, Michael, argues his wife would not want to be kept alive artificially, her parents have fought his efforts to have her feeding tube removed. After a years-long court battle that reached the Florida and U.S. Supreme Courts, a judge in Clearwater has ruled that the feeding tube keeping Schiavo alive may be removed Friday.
As organizations plan rallies to support keeping Schiavo alive, lawmakers in Tallahassee and Washington are working on last-minute legislation to keep the tube from being removed.
Lawyers for Michael Schiavo and Terri Schiavo's family did not return calls seeking comment Friday.
Sgreccia told Vatican Radio that while the Holy See's Pontifical Academy for Life rarely gets involved in individual cases, Schiavo's case bears on larger issues.
''Silence in this case would be interpreted as approval,'' Sgreccia said.
Local Christian organizations that have lobbied to keep Schiavo's feeding tube in place say the Vatican statement is encouraging.
''We're very pleased at the Vatican's strong support for saving the life of Terri Schiavo,'' said John Aman, a spokesman for Fort Lauderdale's Center for Reclaiming America, a Protestant organization that will join 16 other organizations Sunday at a rally for Schiavo at the Capitol courtyard in Tallahassee.
Catholic leaders, meanwhile, say the Vatican statement will help to further clarify the church's position on the Schiavo case.
''It's good that the church has made a clarification not only for this case but so that [church] teaching can be applied to other cases,'' said the Rev. Jordi Rivero, director of the Archdiocese of Miami's Respect Life Ministry. ``We respect life and are committed to the respect of every life from the moment of conception to natural death.''
According to church teachings, human life need not be sustained by ''extraordinary means'' of care, but ''ordinary means'' like food and hydration must be provided, Rivero said.
In March 2004, Pope John Paul II told a congress organized by the World Federation of Catholic Medical Associations and the Pontifical Academy for Life that patients in prolonged vegetative states have the right to ''basic healthcare,'' including food and water.
''The church has traditionally recognized feeding, hydration and warmth as essential for human life and therefore ordinary means for keeping a person in good care,'' Rivero said. ``The pope likens the denial of food and water to euthanasia.''
Child of God...
We pray those judicial sinners...
Do not cause the hour of thy death...
Amen !!!
Let's see, denying food and water is similar to denying air. I guess pulling a tube is looked at as different than putting a plastic bag over her head; at least by the courts and the "right to die" folks. To me, murder is murder. My goodness, next thing they'll stop arresting the sickos that keep kids locked up and don't feed them.
BTTT!
The Truth...AND PLENTY OF OTHER DOCTORS SAY SHE IS NOT!!!
Two lies before the first sentence is even completed. She is not in a vegetative state and Christians are not the only ones who find this abominable.
It's obsolete, we have a CURE now!
We don't kill or banish lepers anymore
because we have a cure for that too.
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| Judge Greer cited "news sources" that Sara Scantlin could BLINK her eyes on command so she was not in PVS. Father Pavone witnessed Terri's condition just one month ago [jump ahead to the 17 min mark] and he said:
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Louder.
I like the Pope. But they need to inform Terri's Bishop (Lynch) that the Vatican wants to SAVE Terri's life. Bishop Lynch has pretty much sided with Michael Schiavo. Amazing, isn't it? Lynch wants Terri's parents and Michael Schiavo to mediate. MEDIATE! Like you can mediate with murderers. Sheeeeeesh.
Nonsense. While some members within the Church may disagree, it seems to me the Church's position is manifestly evident.
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