Bishop Jugis on Terri Schiavo
A statement released Wednesday by Bishop Peter Jugis of the Catholic Diocese of Charlotte (Jugis is the spiritual leader for Catholics in the western part of the state including Greensboro) on Terri Schiavo:
"A grave injustice is taking place in Florida in the case of Terri Schiavo. Mrs. Schiavo is a defenseless child of God from whom life-giving nutrition is being withheld as the result of a court order. This is immoral.
"Terri Schiavo is not a vegetable; she is a human being with dignity. She deserves our care and respect. In light of the court-approved starvation of her that is taking place, she is in need of our prayers.
"Given the inability of our lawmakers to prevail over the judiciary to protect the life of this innocent person, I call upon all people of good will in the Diocese of Charlotte to pray for Mrs. Schiavo. Prayer is the only avenue of appeal that is left to her. Fortunately, it is the most persuasive.
"The Holy Father, himself now a recipient of nutrition via a feeding tube, continues his ministry despite his infirmity. His life is a bold testimony to his strong faith and trust in God despite his weakening physical strength.
"The administration of food and water is an ordinary and natural means of preserving life and should be considered obligatory. Mrs. Schiavo should receive the nutrition, comfort and care that is her right as a human being. Only God, not man, determines when it is time to die."
Comments (11)
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Lots of questions are raised by this statement.
First, why does this Bishop not want Terri Schiavo to go to heaven at this time? I would have thought he'd be happy for her.
Second, why doesn't he object to the resussitation (sp?) efforts that re-started her heart 15 years ago? Surely God stopping her heart and man's efforts to re-start it kept her from dying when God really wanted her to die.
Finally, is this person saying that he thinks all living wills should be invalidated? You know, if Ms. Schiavo had left one of those documents behind, there would be no story here. Mr. S. would have decided 7 years ago to end life support, and no one would have been able to make a fuss. I wonder how many people are taken off artificial support every year because of such wills?
Seems to me that the Bishop's statement is saying that all humans should be kept alive under all circumstances, regardless of the wishes of the patients, documented or not. I'm not sure his ideas are the best ones available to us in this technological world.
Posted on March 31, 2005 6:35 AM
<sigh>
The "religious" community is making it increasingly difficult to actually do what the Bible mandates, talking about the Gospel of Jesus Christ to others.
Posted on March 31, 2005 6:38 AM
I would just like to say that it is a very sad day to say the least that our country gives criminals, cats, and dogs more humane treatment through lethal injection, but we STARVE a human to death, yes liberals I said the word starving people becuase that is what we have done to a innocent Florida woman, yah ever heard of Terri Schiavo? while her disgusting whore of a husband who wants to see his new babe was glad to get rid of her, hope she doesn't cramp your new lifestyle BUD!! I proudly support our President that intervened on her behalf, and liberals it isn't for political gain, becuase in case you haven't read he can only serve 2 terms. But then again liberals have the unique gift of playing God, which I would love to know where they got it. In the words of Os Guiness "All that is necessary for evil is for good men to do NOTHING." That is what we have done. GOD HELP US!!!
Posted on March 31, 2005 12:54 PM
Um, she didn't starve to death. That would take much longer than 14 days. Its called dehydration.
Schiavo's husband was exactly that, her husband. It doesn't matter if he was an angel walking the earth or the spawn of satan.
Just out of curiosity, how many folks would actually look their spouse in the face and tell them that they wanted their parents to be responsible for their healthcare decisions in the event they couldn't make them?
Posted on March 31, 2005 1:43 PM
Joshua (quite aptly named, I think!) appears to have made no effort to empathize with Mr. Schiavo. I might have made the same choices that he did, and I might not... I don't know. But I think I understand him and I wouldn't consider him evil.
I wonder why people are making such a big deal about the manner of death. Has anyone bothered to find out how many people die each year due to the removal of nutrition? If it hadn't been for the media circus created by her parents, we would never have heard of this case. How many other cases go to this same conclusion every year, and no one dares to stick their noses into them because it's a private family issue?
So go ahead, Joshua. Get ready to invade the lives of all the other families who decide to let their loved ones die. They don't deserve any privacy or compassion, after all, do they? Invading and overriding family decisions is what good Christian values is all about, according to you, I guess.
Posted on March 31, 2005 2:56 PM
Eric says: "Second, why doesn't he object to the resussitation (sp?) efforts that re-started her heart 15 years ago? Surely God stopping her heart and man's efforts to re-start it kept her from dying when God really wanted her to die."
Apparently we're not allowed to determine who should die, only who should not die. Is there a difference there? Pretty subtle.
If God (assuming you believe in an omnipotent, omnibenevolent capital-G kinda deity), had wanted her to live, he could've made her live. He could've not stuck her in the middle of His self-gratifying ridiculous patriarchy that encouraged the eating disorder that lead her to her unfortunate condition in the first place.
Maybe this was fated to happen and a moot point all around. Any preordination buffs out there?
Joshua says: "Liberals have the unique gift of playing God"? Sheesh. How about PEOPLE?
One could (and some do) argue that our mythical tasting of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil describes us taking up the mantle of knowing (or thinking that we know) who should live and who should die.
We certainly live accordingly, on all sides of the political and religious spectrum.
Thoughts?
Posted on March 31, 2005 3:17 PM
I hope with Terri's death, more people will discuss EOL issues with their loved ones. Having the Living Will will spare our families the heart break the Terri's family went through.
Posted on March 31, 2005 4:08 PM
Signs of the times? Are you with God, or not? It seems that the 'gray area' is going away, now doesn't it? We're choosing sides.
Terri's murder is a wake-up call to us all. Hang onto your hats, folks...It looks like we're in for quite a ride!
Woe...
+Peace Be With You.
-Dawn
Pray! Pray! Pray!
Posted on March 31, 2005 9:48 PM
"Terri's murder"?? Please explain that. The woman's husband said that she would not want to live in the state she was in, and the courts agreed. What happened here was the best medical process that is available in this country to allow people to die with dignity when all medical hope is gone.
What made it "murder"?
And why is no one mentioning the precedent that all this political-religious chest-beating is setting? Are we going to say that all families will have to submit to the intrusion of politicians when they lose hope and ask to disconnect their loved ones? Are you, Dawn, planning to go and protest every time an Alzheimer's patient is "murdered" this way?
Posted on April 1, 2005 6:29 AM
Eric, you know the answer to your question is no. These people don't care about ALL of the people who die in this manner just the one the media decided to highlight, otherwise, they wouldn't be on this board a-typin' away, they would be up on The Hill talking to legislators and bustin' their way into nursing homes and hospices and strongarming their way into people's homes and/or readying their own homes to take in these people that they want to save so that they can ensure they live and aren't "murdered."
Posted on April 4, 2005 10:44 AM
The problem that I see is that with crusaders like Tom DeLay, Bill Frist and George Bush in power, it might not be too long before the logical next step is taken. There are already bills being introduced in state legislatures, ready to remove the rights of spouses and parents to make these decisions. And this, coming from a political party that used to claim they wanted to remove government from interfereing in people's lives.
Posted on April 5, 2005 7:48 AM