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Pope Benedict XVI said, 13 March 2007, that Catholic politicians have a "grave responsibility" to defend all innocent human life and a "non negotiable" duty to oppose abortion and euthanasia.
If the Church teaches that responsibility rests on elected officials who hold mere temporal power, surely the successors of the apostles -- our bishops (and their priests) -- who hold the greatest spiritual authority on earth, bear a much greater obligation.
In light of the recent second anniversary [31 March 2005] of the killing of a healthy yet disabled woman, our friend Terri Schindler Schiavo, we urge all in Church leadership: Do not be afraid to defend the Gospel of Life in its entirety.
Teach the flock entrusted to you their obligation to assent fully to the truth concerning the value of every human life from fertilization to natural death, outlined by the Church in the Catechism and the recent addresses of our beloved Pope John Paul II and His Holiness Benedict XVI.
Our communion as persons made in the image and likeness of God obligates us to seek the common good and do what we can to relieve the suffering of all our brothers and sisters.
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However, priorities must be kept straight. There is a clear distinction between the intervention needed on behalf of those whose lives are indeed miserable (the homeless and disenfranchised) and the intervention to defend the lives of those vulnerable innocents being targeted by the death industry.
Our faith demands that we be solicitous for both, but top priority must be given to the most vulnerable among us: the preborn child, the severely disabled, the elderly -- all who are dependent upon us.
As laws are promoted in the economically progressive world for the legalization of euthanasia, it is vital to inform people that euthanasia is an evil equal to abortion. As in Terri's case, it is never morally acceptable to deliberately withhold food and hydration from someone. There must be a presumption in favor of providing food and water, even by a feeding tube, unless the food and water fail to nourish and hydrate.
In recalling Terri's court-ordered death by starvation and thirst, let us make every effort to defeat the culture of death by loving and protecting the most vulnerable among us, remembering that we will all be judged by our love (or lack of it) toward the least of Christ's brothers and sisters.
Franciscan Brothers of Peace Anthony Sweere and Paul O'Donnell live at Queen of Peace Friary in St. Paul, MN.
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