I didn't really realize it before, maybe because I wasn't as atuned to it, but the connection between the late Terry Shiavo and Pope John Paul II is a magnificent one!
Consider the following:
- Both were Catholic.
- Terri's feeding tube was removed on March 18, 2005.
- Pope John Paul's feeding tube was inserted on March 30, 2005.
- Terri dies of starvation on March 31, 2005.
- Pope John Paul II dies on April 2, 2005
From the March 20, 2004 Address of John Paul L II to the Participants in the International Congress on "Life-Sustaining Treatments and Vegetative State: Scientific Advances and Ethical Dilemmas" a little over a year before his and Terri's death.
I should like particularly to underline how the administration of water and food, even when provided by artificial means, always represents a natural means of preserving life, not a medical act. Its use, furthermore, should be considered, in principle, ordinary and proportionate, and as such morally obligatory, insofar as and until it is seen to have attained its proper finality, which in the present case consists in providing nourishment to the patient and alleviation of his suffering.
I imagine Terri and the Pope in Heaven, crossing one another's path.
Prayer for the Dignity of Human Life
Lord and giver of all life, help us to value each person, created in love by you.In your mercy, guide and assist our efforts to promote the dignity and value of all human life, born and unborn. We ask this through Christ our Lord.Amen.
from Catholic Online
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