News

By Gudrun Schultz

SAFETY HARBOUR, Florida, January 23, 2006 (LifeSiteNew.com) – Michael Schiavo, who had his disabled wife Terri killed last March by refusing her food and water, was re-married last Saturday in the Roman Catholic Church of Espiritu Santo in Florida.

Schiavo married Jodi Centonze. He had two children with her during the years he worked towards achieving Terri’s death.

Terri Schiavo was killed in March 2005, in spite of her family’s strenuous fight to prevent the removal of her feeding tube and water. Terri was left severely brain damaged after collapsing at age 26. Although medical authorities said she was in an irreversible “vegetative” state, her family maintained that she was able to interact with them, and they sought to have authority for her care transferred to them.

On Saturday, Terri Schiavo’s sister Suzanne Vitadamo spoke out against the Catholic bishops of Florida, saying Terri may not have been killed if the bishops would have supported the fight to protect her life.

Speaking at a “Stand Up for Life” rally in South Carolina, Ms. Vitadamo said if the Florida bishops had stepped forward and denounced what was taking place “there would have been such an enormous outcry of support from parishioners in our diocese and from Catholics around the world that my sister could very well be alive today.”

Bishop Robert Lynch of St. Petersburg, Florida, outraged Catholics when he offered his only statement during the 13 days it took Terri to die from dehydration, encouraging her family to reconcile with Michael Schiavo in the name of “peace.”

The Catholic Church of Espiritu Santo, where Michael Schiavo’s second marriage took place, is in Bishop Lynch’s diocese of St. Petersburg.

While the Florida Bishops dismally failed to intervene and speak out in defense of Terri and of the value of all human life, the Vatican issued repeated condemnations of the decision to cause her death.

In four different appeals, Vatican officials sought protection for her life and spoke out against the inhumanity of withholding food and water.

“Without the tube which is providing life-giving hydration and nutrition, Terri Schiavo will die. But it is not that simple. She will die a horrible and cruel death,” wrote Cardinal Renato Martino. “She will not simply die; she will have death inflicted upon her over a number of terrible days, even weeks. How can anyone who claims to speak of the promotion and protection of human rights – of human life – remain silent?”

Suzanne Vitadamo warned listeners at the rally about the implications of Terri’s death for all vulnerable people.

“Our society has shifted to a quality of life mentality and has lost sight
  of the value (and) sacredness of all human life,” Vitadamo said. “We now as
  a nation are deciding when it is OK or not OK to kill those suffering from
  disabilities.”

Vatican Appeals for Life of Disabled Florida Woman Terri Schiavo
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/feb/05022502.html

Vatican Publishes Fourth Appeal for Life of Terri Schiavo
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/mar/05032306.html