Orthodox Speak Out In Favor of Terri Schiavo

Published by The National Herald, April 1, 2005

Metropolitan Maximos of Pittsburgh condemned the removal of Terri Schiavo’s feeding tube, equating it to murder.

“She deserves to live,” Maximos, a respected theologian and Greek Orthodox bishop told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette earlier this week.

“A miracle is always possible for her to be restored from minimum consciousness to full consciousness… I beg all those in charge to consider the plea of her parents, with whom I fully identify.”

In an interview, Maximos said he regretted not speaking out earlier and praised Roman Catholic leaders who had advocated the right to life of the brain-damaged Florida woman.

“Murder is a strong word that nobody wants to use, but that is what it is,” he said of her husband’s decision to remove her source of food and water.

Mrs. Schiavo died this past Thursday morning, March 31, thirteen days after a Florida judge ordered her feeding removed. That decision polarized the nation and received nearly constant coverage on major television news networks, as well as in all major newspapers, spurring heated debate on the right to live versus the right to die.

The Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Chicago, over which Metropolitan Iakovos of Chicago presides, also released a statement earlier this week “on the case of Terri Schiavo,” which argued that hastening Mrs. Schiavo’s death by removing her feeding tube was unacceptable, morally untenable and against God’s wishes. The text of the Chicago Metropolis statement follows:

“Human life is always precious and sacred. This is a fundamental tenet of the Orthodox Christian tradition. Each and every human being is created in the image of God the Creator, and can never cease to be loved by God. The highest measure of a quality of life is our personal relationship with God, and this relationship endures the best and worst conditions in which human beings may find themselves. It even endures physical death in this age, continuing in the age to come.

Orthodox Christians are greatly saddened by the condition of Terri Schiavo, and must be saddened by the decision of other persons to purposely end her life by the withdrawal of the basic care of feeding and hydration.

As a gift, life is always to be respected, nurtured and defended by Orthodox Christians. It is not an abstract principle to be debated. We affirm that we are called to be wise stewards of this gift. This prohibits the conscious destruction of life at any stage in the human life cycle and demands loving care at every stage, for ourselves and especially for the lives of others.

We acknowledge that there are times when artificial life support is more expressive of a fear of death than concern for loved ones in tragic circumstances. We affirm that, in light of the body functioning only by artificial and mechanical means, when it is unable to sustain life on its own in any manner, the cessation of such means is often acceptable, since this is not actually causing death. We do not view feeding and hydration in such terms, for in the case of Terri Schiavo and others who are in similar conditions, death is not imminent as long as the body is nourished.

Therefore, the removal of Mrs. Schiavo from feeding tubes so as to hasten her death can in no way be accepted or supported. Doing so demonstrates both a blatant lack of wise stewardship of God’s sacred gift of life and an extraordinary means of hastening her death by starvation.”

Metropolitan Maximos’ comments and the Metropolis of Chicago’s statement followed a statement issued from the (Russian) Orthodox Church in America last week: “Extraordinary means of prolonging life, as well as extraordinary means of ending life, are inconsistent with wise stewardship of God’s gift of life. This is especially crucial in cases in which no clear consensus has been determined with regard to a person’s state, as in the case of Mrs. Terri Schiavo. As such, the removal of Mrs. Schiavo from feeding tubes as a means of hastening her death can in no way be condoned or supported,” according to the OCA.

The above incorporates information published by the Pittsburgh Post Gazette on March 29 (Greek Orthodox Leader: Schiavo Deserves to Live” by Ann Rodgers).



Volume 7 Number 14 - Tuesday, April 5th, 2005	A Publication of the ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN LAITY