An Open Letter to Fr. Frank Pavone

Fr. Frank Pavone of the Priests for Life congregation published an open letter to Michael Schiavo, the husband of the late Terri. Since both Mr. Schiavo and Terri's family are busy with their book tours, I am taking it upon myself to write an open letter to Fr. Frank in response to his open letter:

Dear Fr. Frank,

A year ago, I and a million others watched as you situated yourself into a very private, emotionally-volatile situation. You, the Friar Tucks, and the Christian whatevers were omnipresent as you stood by the Schindlers while they unanimously condemned Michael Schiavo for wanting to take out his wife’s feeding tube. I don’t know if you know, but the decision to remove a feeding tube from a person with PVS is a heart-wrenching choice made by thousands of care-takers everyday.

I am not defending Mr. Schiavo – I do not know him and I do not know his intentions - I’ll leave that up to the lawyers and God. I am however, defending the right of others to make that very painful (and personal) decision to let their loved ones go without fear of judgment and retribution from holier-than-thou folks. Jesus Himself non-categorically said: “Judge not, lest ye be judged” (Matthew 7:1). Non-categorically.

In your letter, you have become judge and jury for Mr. Schiavo and called him a murderer, and if it weren’t against the law, I suspect you would have become executioner too. If you think Mr. Schiavo’s actions offended you and the Schindlers, let me assure you: Right back at ya. And I don’t speak for myself alone. Just look at how many people prepared living wills while you were fighting over Terri – we do not want to be a burden and we do not want our deathbeds to be a circus and we do not want anyone to assume that they are carrying our wishes when they really aren't.

The Schindlers reminded me of that woman who went to King Solomon and agreed that the live child be cut in half so she could get her fair share. For folks who so fervently proclaim the Gospel and proudly wear their Catholicism as a croix de guerre, the Schindlers could not seem to trust the idea of Heaven. They could not seem to reconcile themselves with the “…Thy will be done…” part of Our Lord’s prayer. And when the Christian terrorists empowered the Schindlers, they took it upon themselves to try Mr. Schiavo in the court of public opinion. Your buddy Bobby even insinuated, in front of a camera, that Mr. Schiavo caused Terri's collapse in the first place!

You call your congregation “Priests for Life” yet you have said that “capital punishment can sometimes be justified when it is carried out in the defense of life.” I see a problem here: once again, your stance calls for judgment. “Thou shalt not kill” is another non-categorical commandment, right? Then why would one human life be less than another in the eyes of God? How can a prisoner, already in prison, locked up 23 hours a day, being fattened like a calf for execution, be “a danger to life”? (I know, I know, in pointing out your propensity to judge, I, too in the process am judging you as well. What a circular world this is!)

You know, dying ain't too bad - it's just the natural process of life. Natural - being the key word here, and as far as I know, we weren't born with feeding tubes attached to our appendages. The nature of all living things is to fight for survival - but when a wounded animal senses that the end is imminent, it retreats to the woods so it can go through the process of dying quietly and alone. We can debate on whether Terri was starved to death or whether nature was restored with the removal of her feeding tube - but let's not. Jesus chose to die on the Cross when He could have escaped the Roman soldiers (and He had plenty of time to do so) - was that a suicide? Why did He not choose to live a long life and die a natural death (in the process teaching us to live and die)? Maybe because it's just the way things were meant to be.

Both Mr. Schiavo and the Schindlers have new books coming out this week. Both books purport to tell “the truth”. Both camps are doing their talk show rounds. I wish they would just grieve in private and come to terms with their loss. Because in the end, that’s what this is: they lost a loved one and that is devastating and it takes time, a lot of time, to heal. And finally, finally please let Terri rest in the arms of God.

We all make our marks in history because that’s what we’re called to do. To label someone as “a stain” - man, that's pretty harsh. We all have our stains somewhere and we all need forgiveness – I think that includes you, Fr. Frank.

Love,
German Shepherd


Keywords: Delia Gallagher