Orlando, Fla., Mar 21, 2005 / 22:00 pm
Bishop Thomas Wenski issued a powerful defense of the life of Terri Schiavo this week in a commentary published in the Orlando Sentinel. The 41-year-old disabled Florida woman’s feeding tube was removed March 18 by court order.
“Holy Week, the annual remembrance of Jesus' passion and death, begins with the Passion of Terri Schiavo,” wrote the Orlando bishop. “Terri's agony has already begun and, barring some miracle, the denouement of Terri's drama will be her death.”
In addition to drawing an analogy between Terri’s experience and that of Jesus, the bishop compared Terri to actor Christopher Reeve, who was kept alive on a respirator until he died late last year of natural causes.
“No one begrudged his heroic struggle to live, and we were all edified by his courage and that of his family who stood by him,” wrote the bishop. “Terri, however, is not being kept alive by any machine as was Reeve…. She only needs assistance to be fed.