Posted on 01/23/2006 7:12:44 AM PST by NYer
SAFETY HARBOR - Michael Schiavo and Jodi Centonze were married in a private ceremony at Espiritu Santo Catholic Church on Saturday.
"It was very emotional," said John Centonze, brother of the bride, just after the noon ceremony. "It's been a long time coming. A lot of things happened in between."
The wedding came a day after the couple applied for a Pinellas County marriage license and 10 months after the death of Schiavo's first wife, Terri.
Terri Schiavo died March 31, two weeks after her feeding tube was removed, and 15 years after a cardiac arrest that left her in what most doctors called a persistent vegetative state. Her death was a most public process, with the Florida Legislature, Congress, the courts, pundits and interest groups weighing in.
The wedding, in contrast, was private. Mindful of the media circus that had whirled about Terri Schiavo's hospice for weeks, along with throngs of protesters, the families kept the time and location of Saturday's ceremony a secret. Three St. Petersburg Times journalists arrived at the church, but were asked not to go in.
Schiavo wore a black tuxedo and Centonze wore a long, flowing, white wedding gown. Their two children attended. The bride and groom did not make any public comment.
"Except for the fact that the world knows their name, it was like any wedding you've ever been to," said Michael Hirsh, who attended, and who is helping Schiavo write a book titled Terri: The Truth.
Hirsh estimated about 80 people attended. The priest offered no homily. Afterward the wedding party went to a reception at East Lake Country Club.
"It was just a beautiful ceremony," Hirsh said. "Everyone there was just extremely happy for them."
Hirsh said, "There weren't a lot of dry eyes in the place."
Centonze agreed. "I had a couple tears," he said.
Schiavo and Jodi Centonze met in a dentist's office and began dating a few years later. Terri Schiavo already had suffered her accident, and already was living in a nursing home.
Schiavo referred to Jodi Centonze as his fiancee for more than five years, as the Terri Schiavo case worked its way through the court system, and the halls of the Florida Legislature and Congress.
Some of Schiavo's friends compared him during this time to a man whose wife had Alzheimer's disease; he still loved his wife but also wanted companionship. But in the superheated rhetoric of Terri Schiavo's last months, critics called him an adulterer because he had taken up with another woman while still married.
In 1990, cardiac arrest deprived Terri Schiavo of oxygen for five minutes. Doctors eventually diagnosed her as being in a persistent vegetative state, meaning she was not conscious of her surroundings.
However, Terri Schiavo's family sharply disagreed and consulted doctors who disputed or doubted the diagnosis of a persistent vegetative state. They hoped to keep her alive and give her extensive therapy.
An autopsy concluded that Terri Schiavo never would have recovered from the brain damage she suffered during her 1990 collapse. Doctors have never competely understood what brought on her initial cardiac arrest.
Unbelievable! While this priest was at it, maybe he should of administered last rites to Jodi, you know, just in case.............
Hmmm, yes. Like finishing the murder of Michael's wife. I find it troubling that any Catholic church would allow this ceremony to take place within its walls.
I don't know either, whether he could refuse to witness the marriage, but he could certainly refuse to conduct a public ceremony like the one described in the article. The priest has authority over the appropriateness of weddings in his parish.
If a person murders their spouse in order to marry someone else, the second marriage is invalid according to canon law.
The problem is that apparently neither of those contentions can be proven in this case ... suspected, but not proven.
"Michael Schiavo and Jodi Centonze were married in a private ceremony at Espiritu Santo Catholic Church on Saturday."
Someone correct me if I am wrong, but I thought it was impossible to have a "private" service in an RC church.
may they have a marriage made in hell!
"Fr. Bob" Schneider can be contacted at:
Perhaps he could advise us what his criteria are for officiating at a Christian Marriage. The only thing listed on their website is the standard 6-month parish membership requirement.
Having said that, who knows? Perhaps Schiavo has completely repented of his actions, gone to confession and done his penance. I wouldn't lay Vegas odds on that, but if we are encouraged to believe that John Kerry may have repented of his pro-abortion stand and confessed after opening his mouth in public and before receiving communion, I suppose we could be encouraged to believe that Michael Schiavo repented of murdering his wife and having an adulterous affair before getting married...
Or maybe not...
Bob and Mary Schindler, as well as their children Bobby and Suzanne, are receiving an award today at the US Senate for their efforts to keep their daughter/sister from being killed.
Wonder what this one will die from?
Now that is really telling it like it is!!
St. Petersburg diocese, home of Bishop Lynch. That Bishop Lynch. Probably the worst Bishop we have in the US. (and that's saying a lot)
Mrs. Schiavo had better have her end-of-life wishes explicity spelled out in a notarized document, with plenty of copies distributed to plenty of friends.
If she wants a feeding tube to remain in place in case she's ever incapacitated, she'd better spell it out and have a team of lawyers craft a document that is airtight.
With Michael for a husband, a wife can never be too safe.
Be careful, Jodi.
They probably figured Fr. Pavone would be busy with other matters...
The Schindlers were also going to be in Washington for the March for Life. Maybe Michael and Jodi in their deluded world-view thought that the Schindlers might try to stop the ceremony if they knew about it. I'm sure the Schindlers could care less what Michael does with his time these days, but Mikey will always look over his shoulder. He once told Larry King during an interview that he thought the Schindlers were going through the litigation just to make his life a living hell. Oh, I am sure that was the number one reason, Michael!!
I am pretty certain that Jodi has an airtight one. I remember reading something about it, because she has that condition where she occasionally stops breathing while she's sleeping. I am having trouble remembering what it's called. Sleep apnea or something like that? Anyway, Michael has to have her resuscitated if she collapses from that. What else is included I don't know. Of course, this is based on some news report that came out at the time of Terri's demise. Who knows for sure whether it was reported accurately. I feel certain that Jodi has made what she *thinks* is a safe decision.
************
Words fail me.
disgusting. her poor family, just when you think he can't hurt them anymore....
How wonderful, thanks for posting that news. Well-deserved award.
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