Oregon Bishop Speaks Out in the Case of Terri Schiavo

e3mil.com ^ | Wednesday, November 12, 2003 | Bishop Robert F. Vasa

[nickcarraway]

The Bishops Speak

Title: In the Matter of Terri Schiavo

Author: Bishop Robert F. Vasa

Date: Wednesday, November 12, 2003

(Editor's Note: The following is a statement released by Bishop Robert F. Vasa in the Diocese of Baker, Oregon regarding the Catholic Church's position on Terri Schiavo's case.)

For Mary and Bob Schindler: ..."Cannot people see that Terri is their baby and that their love for her has a value and that their love tells the world that Terri has great worth? To treat her as if she were already dead is cruel and inhumane. To treat her as if she is dying is likewise ludicrous." Kindest Regards +RFV

The Catholic Church teaches that hydration and nutrition are simply water and food. These must always be provided as long as the food or water itself or the method of delivery is not unduly burdensome to the PATIENT. There does not appear to be any indication from Terri that the provision or the method of provision of food and water is burdensome to her.

The one 'burden', which so many seem so determined to lift from her, is that one thing that allows Terri to continue to be a living breathing human person, life itself. Life itself cannot be the burden from which we in the Catholic Church seek to deliver the faithful. This is the Assisted Suicide attitude.

Life is a grace and a blessing and yes the living of that life does entail some burdens, sometimes great burdens, but the solution can be neither murder nor suicide - these are offenses against life itself and the Lord who gives it.

Terri is alive. She is kept alive by the same things that keep me alive - Food, water, air. Her disability deprives her of the ability to ingest these things, it does not deprive her of the ability to digest them. She may well die in the future from an inability to digest food but it would be murder to cause her death by denying her the food she still has the ability to digest and which continues to provide for her a definite benefit - life itself.

Kindest regards,

Bishop Robert F. Vasa

Diocese of Baker

Box 5999

Baker, Oregon 97708

(541) 388-4004

[dsc]

"On Larry King's show, Ms stated that starvation was a painless way to go, and then hinted that his parents had died that way too.

That would be really scary. I read that psychopathic types often leave a trail of not-quite-right deaths behind them. I wonder if he has.

[Rum Tum Tugger]

Perhaps, however my point was they have not been silent. I'm no fan of Bishop Lynch. Both of my sons live in St. Petersburg so I know what a mess that Diocese is in. I hope and pray the situation will improve down there.

The Diocese of St. Petersburg isn't a mess, but our Bishop Robert Lynch certainly is a mess. Bishop Lynch likes to use Diocesan funds to provide his boyfriends with the finer things of life.

The statement about Terri Schiavo on the Diocesan web is about as close to silence as one could get.

I would like to know why the corpulent, miscreant Robert Lynch wasn't manning the picket line when Terri's feeding tube was pulled. The picket line wasn't all that far from his mansion.

[pegleg]

The statement about Terri Schiavo on the Diocesan web is about as close to silence as one could get.

OK, however the Florida Bishops have not been silent on the issue.

I would like to know why the corpulent, miscreant Robert Lynch wasn't manning the picket line when Terri's feeding tube was pulled.

I'm not a Bishop Lynch apologist so I would like to know the same thing. As we have discussed, Lynch is one of Bernardin's boys so who knows what he's thinking.

[Babalu]

"If she is Catholic and they succeed in killing Terri, it doesn't sound like they could marry in the Catholic church, unless some canon lawyer found a way around the restriction posted above."

Sadly enough, I am sure that Felos & Co. would find a way to buy a canon lawyer that would support him, his felonious and sinful client, and the "other woman". I am a Catholic, but I must say that my faith in the hierarchy of the Church to do the right thing wanes by the day. My faith in God does not. He will always do the right thing, at the place and moment of His choosing.

[dsc]

"Bishop Lynch likes to use Diocesan funds to provide his boyfriends with the finer things of life."

What would be the moral, ethical, and canon-law implications if someone were to hire a private investigator to document that, and perhaps to add a few photographs of a sort too disgusting to be described, and then to demand Lynch's resignation?

[nickcarraway]

Also, if they kill Terri, MS cannot marry in the Catholic church

Somehow I'm guessing that Michael is not a devout Catholic! Given the things he has done, disobeying Church law on marriage is relatively minor.

[nickcarraway]

Could you please ping the Terri list and remind all that Oprah is going to talk about Terri on her Friday show.

Seriously? Any indication of who will be on? Her show can have major influence.

[LadyDoc]

Good.

Our "catholic" newspaper has an article by a PC california priest that takes the line of Dr. Cranford that she is "dying" etc. etc. and insisting that we should follow the conscensus of medical opinion.

I replied to it that Nat Hentoff calls such doctors "apologists for death", and that there is a difference between stopping or not giving feeding to a dying person or someone with terminal Alzheimers/ parkinsons' disease (where the long term prognosis is poor) and between the PC argument which is that Schiavo has no consciousness, and that therefore she has no interest in prolonging her life. (implying it's okay that she die, since she's a useless eater who does not meet the PC "criteria for personhood")

The fact that she has not yet died of aspiration pneumonia suggests she is able to swallow, and even if she recognizes her parents once on film shows that she is not in a coma...

I suspect our bishop is sleeping at the wheel, but then what else is new?

I ask Freepers to pray for me. Every time I do such a letter, something lousy happens. On a Christian level, it makes one think of diabolic retaliation. On a secular level, it's probably just superstitious worry. But prayers never hurt, so pray for me...

[Smocker]

STANDS TALL?

A month late, and in such mild words too...

I wish he had spoken when the tube was being removed, when she was being starved for 6 days. Where was he then?

I am not impressed by these after the fact news announcements from American Bishops.

[Smocker]

I agree with your comments on the priest, especially, since if he is a priest in good standing, he is supposed to be celibate and hence cannot procreate either. Further, who is to say that a religious person, or a lay person who is suffering and praying is not doing a greater 'work' than a person earning a salary. What an evil way of portraying a person's life. how offensive to the parents!

[sinkspur]

I went to school with Bob Vasa. He was ordained for Lincoln in 1976. Got an STD from Rome in 1983.

He was a bit stuffy in seminary, but was always clear-headed, and he still has that trait.

[The Red Zone]

They were talking about this on another thread. If this is true and his girlfriend is Catholic, they can't have a Catholic wedding they kill Terri. For purposes of church weddings, Catholic canon law trumps civil law.

M$'s current bob-and-weave is that they "have no plans to marry." (OK, since we all know the Florida courts turn a stone blind eye to open adultery even though black letter law says that will disqualify a guardian.) But some other source quoted Jodi as wanting a Catholic wedding. Probably some "Catholic" congregation in Florida will marry them and there won't be anything more than an "ahem" from the hierarchy.

[The Red Zone]

On a Christian level, it makes one think of diabolic retaliation.

You'd likely be correct. The site of this battle is a stronghold of Satan.

[marcialee]

In no statement made by the Florida Bishops was this spelled out so succinctly and directly. Nor in any statement made by ANY Bishop including those from WI and VA has it been spelled out so very clearly.

I applaud all who have said that this is NOT right, but I give my highest accolades to Bishop Vasa of Oregon, who KNEW it needed to be said PLAINLY and FORTHRIGHTLY. To remove her food and water is to kill her. She is NOT dying.

A good attorney could and has used the burden aspect of the statement to remove the food and water. Bishop Vasa has CLEARLY shown that this is NOT permissable unless the person can no longer digest (assimilate) the food and water, which does eventually happen as death draws near. Again, I applaud Bishop Vasa's directness. NO one should sign any living will without his clear directive being included.

[marcialee]

EVERY life, from conception to natural death, no matter what Mankind may think, is precious in His Sight. He is the Author and Giver of life, and you said it well. No one but the Lord Himself has any right to determine when we go to meet Him. I also am concerned about Michael Schiavo's family decisions... I question why Terri is where she is today. May God have mercy on him and on his attorneys, as well as those of the Nancy Cruzan and other similar cases. And once again, your post was well said, as was Bishop Vasa's statement.

[marcialee]

Sorry, that last reply was to you. ... Andrew's parent.

[marcialee]

That article is right on, but... the authority to proceed with the killing of the mentally retarded, disabled, mentally ill, etc was a result of court decisions JUST like the ones of Nancy Cruzan and Terri Schiavo!! Thank you for that link, as I had not seen that article yet.

[pc93]

Help Us Protect And Ensure Life
And Liberty For Terri Schindler!
Become a Life Ribbon Site

You are encouraged to place a Life Ribbon Campaign banner on your servers and web pages to support/participate in the campaign described on this page at

http://bellsouthpwp.net/p/c/pc93/terri_schindler_life_ribbon_campaign.htm

Questions to: pc93@bellsouth.net

Also looking for co-ordinators for Terri Life Ribbon Meet-ups in their particular states/countries.