.- The
priest who witnessed Terri Schiavo’s final hours at her bedside last
March reiterated his previous statement that her husband, Michael
Schiavo, is a murderer and called on him to “embrace a life of
repentance” and to seek forgiveness.
Terri was a
41-year-old severely disabled Florida woman, who died during Holy Week
last year; after her husband instructed that her feeding tube be
removed, knowing that it would lead to her death.
In a strongly worded open letter to Terri’s husband, Fr. Frank Pavone recalled that last year he called Michael a murderer.
“Some have
demanded that I apologize to you for calling you a murderer,” wrote the
priest. “Not only will I not apologize, I will repeat it again. Your
decision to have Terri dehydrated to death was a decision to kill her.”
The national
director of Priests for Life read his letter to a worldwide audience on
an internationally broadcast religious service Sunday morning. It was
written to mark the one-year anniversary of Terri’s death.
“It doesn’t
matter if Judge Greer said it was legal. No judge, no court, no power
on earth can legitimize what you did,” he continued. “It makes no
difference if what you did was legal in the eyes of men; it was murder
in the eyes of God and of millions of your fellow Americans.”
The priest
recounted Terri’s agonizing death. “As one of only a few people who
were eyewitnesses to Terri’s dehydration, I have to speak,” he wrote.
Fr. Pavone,
claiming to write on behalf of “tens of millions” of outraged
Americans, said Michael’s decision to remove Terri’s feeding tube is
offensive.
“Your actions
offend us,” he wrote. “You have offended those who struggle on a daily
basis to care for loved ones who are dying, and who sometimes have to
make the very legitimate decision to discontinue futile treatment.”
Millions of
Americans continue to wonder why Michael did not let Terri’s family
take care of her, as they were willing to do, he said. “She had no
terminal illness. She was simply a disabled woman who needed extra care
that you weren’t willing to give,” he wrote.
“Not only have
you killed Terri and deeply wounded her family, but you have disgraced
our nation, betrayed the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and undermined the
principles that hold us together as a civilized society,” he stated.
Priest sends open letter to Michael Schiavo on anniversary of Terri’s death
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