Catholic Fire

Filmmakers have released a new documentary which they say reports previously unexplored facts about the legal battle surrounding Terri Schiavo while exploring her death’s ethical and cultural implications. One disabled woman connected with the film said “countless people” face pressures similar to those that killed Schiavo. Terri Schindler Schiavo, who was severely brain damaged after a cardio-respiratory arrest, in 2005 died from dehydration 13 days after a court ordered the removal of her feeding tube. Her story is the focus of “The Terri Schiavo Story,” distributed by Franklin Springs Media and produced and directed by Ken Carpenter. Speaking in a press release, Carpenter said he thought most people believed Schiavo had no prospects of improving. “The truth is the doctors believed Terri was a candidate for rehabilitation, but her husband withheld that treatment,” he claimed. “Additionally, we uncovered that only one judge ruled on the facts of the case.” Article. Here are some of my...

Rome, Nov 18, 2008 / 04:06 pm ( CNA ).- The president of the Pontifical Council for the Family, Cardinal Ennio Antonelli, said this week that Italy’s “Terri Schiavo,” Eluana Englaro, “has been condemned to die of hunger and thirst because she has been living in a vegetative state for many years. Let us hope that at the last minute this decision will be reconsidered and ideology will not completely blind consciences.” According to the SIR news agency, the cardinal made his comments at the conclusion of a Mass for the 27th Congress of the Centers for Aid to Life. The case he was referring to involves a 37 year-old Italian whose feeding tubes have been removed after the Supreme Court ruled her father had the right to disconnect them to bring about her death. The case is being compared to what happened in the U.S. with Terri Schiavo, who died thirteen days after her tube was removed. Cardinal Antonelli said, "Eluana is in a 'vegetative state,' but she is not a vegetable. She i...