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The mother says it's murder. The doctors call it mercy. Each claims that Catholic teachings on end-of-life care support their positions.
In the case of Emilio Gonzales, the 17-month-old boy with a terminal disease at Children's Hospital of Austin, the decision over whether to remove him from a respirator has been steeped in legal maneuverings and court rulings.
But because both Emilio's mother, Catarina Gonzales, and the Seton Family of Hospitals rely on the Roman Catholic Church for guidance, theological questions on the boy's care have generated another layer of debate over Catholic doctrine that permits ending medical care for dying patients.
Gonzales brought her son to the Seton-run Children's Hospital with a collapsed lung on Dec. 27.
Emilio was put on life support in the pediatric intensive care unit the next day, then doctors told her that Emilio suffered from a rare, incurable disorder that causes the central nervous system to break down.
Since then Gonzales, doctors and hospital officials have clashed over how to care for Emilio, with Gonzales seeking more aggressive treatment and doctors recommending withdrawal of life support.
In trying to weigh the sanctity of life against the desire for a dignified death, Bishop Gregory Aymond supports the doctors' decision.
~Snip~
But he would not say that Catarina Gonzales is wrong to seek continued treatment, and he said he would like to meet with her to talk about the church's teachings...................
.........To tell her to shut up and accept the killing???
Medical guidance from the church In Gonzales case, church teachings are interpreted differently
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Posted Friday, April 13, 2007 8:47 PM By JPeterson
I have to agree with Robert Lockwood, until there is wholesale replacement of (some) of these Bishops, not much real change will occur. I certainly wish nothing bad of our current Bishops but many local Parishes are simply lost like sheep without a shepherd. The faith has been so washed out over the years that the Holy Mass has in many cases become one Holy mess. I have been a Catholic all my life..37 years (cooincidentally I was born the same year when the Latin Mass was shelved after over 1500 or more years..lucky me!) I have never attended a Latin Mass in my life but if something can take the place of the terribly irreverant Mass that we currently have in my diocese (St Pete, FLA..you know, that Diocese where Terry Schiavo was put to death and Bishop Lynch said not a word and then subsequently remarried Michael Schiavo to his concubine in the Church!), than I am all for it. I care not for all the bad singing, non traditional songs, announcements, hand shaking, introductions and the 1001 other things invented to take away from the sacrifice of our Lord. I don't think it's necessary to return to a Latin Mass all the time but I do believe that the traditional Latin Mass makes it much harder for individual Priests to add their own whimsy to the Holy Mass.
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