Madam, - I was saddened by your Editorial of March 26th on the case of Terri Schiavo.
I usually find both your paper and Editorial quite helpful, and actually use it a lot with my students as an example of good, solid, balanced writing. However, I certainly do not agree with some of your statements about her truly tragic situation.
For a start, I doubt that anyone who has been deprived of both food and water could have an easy death and, as you say, "slip gently into death". Terri Schiavo's brain function may have been virtually non-existent, as you stated, but who are you or I to really understand the interior dynamic of a person and tell what they can and cannot perceive and suffer?
And how can anyone claim that her death could be one of more dignity, deprived as she was of basic hydration and nutrition?
It is a complex case, I admit, and one which requires much deliberation, reflection and, in short, prayer. But I object to your presupposition that her wish was to die. How do you know this? And how could you state that her life had "lost all real meaning and quality"?
Who are you or I to pronounce such sweeping statements on the quality of life and offer such inviolable judgments on the situation of human beings? The fact is that none of us truly knows the full internal state and quality of human life and its capacity for good and even evil.
In the same year that Terri Schiavo experienced her heart attack, my youngest sister was diagnosed with terminal cancer and given six months to live. In June of that year her feeding tubes were cut off because, in the words of her doctors, "her situation was so serious they were afraid she would not survive another operation".
She not only survived another operation but went on to experience another five months of a truly fulfilling and rich life. The main feature of these five months was her extraordinary growth in spiritual life and closeness to God's purpose. For someone like her who was alien from everything deep and even spiritual, this for me was not only a miracle but also a profound blessing.
I know that this situation is not the same as what happened to Terri Schiavo. But I also know that we are unable to measure the power and effectiveness of what was happening within her during the recent traumatic weeks. - Yours, etc.,
ANNE GORMLEY, Overdale, Ennis Road, Limerick.
A chara, - Vincent Browne (Opinion, March 30th) writes with passion about Terri Schiavo. It is indeed a tragic situation. He says it is odd that the Catholic Church should be so quiescent about the case. It seems that Terri's parents have very clear support for their stance from lay people and clergy, who are the "Church".
As regards the Vatican, the clear teaching on life-support is that nutrition is not to be seen as extraordinary means, and should be provided. The Vatican normally restricts statements to general principles. It is unusual in this case that not one, but three senior Vatican officials appealed on behalf of Terri Schiavo: Cardinal Renato Martino of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace; Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragán of the Pontifical Council for Health Care; and Bishop Elio Sgreccia of the Pontifical Council for Life.
It was good to have your honourable and forthright columnist adding his voice to theirs. - Is mise,
PÁDRAIG McCARTHY, The Presbytery, Avoca, Co Wicklow.