• Fr. Mark Clarke, CMF joins Priests for Life for full-time ministry
• Moral Guidance for End-of-Life Decisions
• Send a message of comfort to Terri Schiavo's family
• Terri Schiavo and the Role of the Priest
• Give us your views through our ONLINE POLL!
• Prayer Intentions
• Please help promote our Television and Radio programs!
• Priests for Life Advisory Board of Bishops
• Oración al Espíritu Santo, El Defensor
• Pope Benedict XVI on Respect for Life
• Our Latest Product: Terri Schiavo's Final Hours: An Eyewitness Account
• Other Priests for Life Products

Never to kill. The basic principle that we may not kill the innocent is always in force. There is such a thing as a worthless treatment, but there is no such thing as a worthless life. People always have to be given humane care, such as nourishment and comfort care.

You've got to be there. Questions about whether or not specific medical treatments are or are not morally obligatory can usually be answered only when one has the input of doctors who can give the medical details about the patient's condition, and about the anticipated benefits and burdens of the proposed treatment. To say "I don't want to be on a respirator" means one thing if it would only prolong imminent death for months on end, and quite another if it would only be needed for 48 hours after an accident, and one could be restored to normal health. Resist the temptation to give an answer on the spot as to what medical treatments should or should not be withheld.

"I wouldn't want to live like that." There are many people about whom we can all say this -- and not just those who are ill. I wouldn't want to live like the homeless, for example. But that does not give us permission to kill, or even ignore, the homeless, nor does it give them permission to kill themselves.

A straw is "artificial." We all rely on "artificial" things to sustain life and health every day. Many artificial machines and processes went into getting the cans of vegetables into your kitchen. The relevant moral distinction about what treatments are required is not found in "artificial" vs. "natural," but rather in whether the treatment will provide benefit without unreasonable burden.

The danger is not that we will be over-treated, but rather that we will be under-treated. We already have the right to refuse medical treatment. What we run the risk of losing is the right to receive the most basic humane care — like food and water — in the event we have a disability. Our culture also promotes the idea that as long as we say we want to die, we have the right to do so. But we have a basic obligation to preserve our own life. A person who leaves clear instructions that they don’t want to be fed is breaking the moral law by requesting suicide.

You can't predict the future. The reason you cannot indicate today what medical treatments you do or don't want tomorrow is that you don't know what medical condition you will have tomorrow, nor what treatments will be available to give you the help you need. Living wills try to predict the future, and people can argue over the interpretation of a piece of paper just as much as they argue about what they claim someone said in private.

Will to Live, NOT Living Will. The better solution is to appoint a health care proxy, who is authorized to speak for you if you are in a condition in which you cannot speak for yourself. This should be a person who knows your beliefs and values, and with whom you discuss these matters in detail. In case you cannot speak for yourself, your proxy can ask all the necessary questions of your doctors and clergy, and make an assessment when all the details of your condition and medical needs are actually known. That's much safer than predicting the future. Appointing a health care proxy in a way that safeguards your right to life is easy. In fact, the National Right to Life Committee has designed a "Will to Live," which can be found at www.nrlc.org and which I recommend highly.

Send a message of comfort to Terri Schiavo's family

Priests for Life maintains regular contact with Terri's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, and her siblings, Bobby and Suzanne. They are strong Christians with a beautiful, gentle spirit. If you wish to relay a personal message to them, you can send it to terri@priestsforlife.org and we will pass it along to them myself. Meanwhile, let us continue to commend Terri to the Lord, mindful of the equal value of every life, no matter how prominent or obscure, healthy or sick.

As you may have seen in media reports, those who killed Terri were quite angry that I said so. The night before she died, I said to the media that her estranged husband Michael, his attorney Mr. Felos, and Judge Greer were murderers. I also pointed out that contrary to Felos' description, Terri's death was not at all peaceful and beautiful. It was, on the contrary, quite horrifying. In my 16 years as a priest, I never saw anything like it before.

After I said these things, Mr. Felos and others in sympathy with him began attacking me in the press and before the cameras. Some news outlets began making a story out of their attacks and said I was "fanning the flames" of enmity and hatred.

Actually, there's a simple reason why they are so angry with me. They had hoped that they could present Terri's death as a merciful and gentle act. My words took the veil of euphemism away, calling this a killing, and giving eyewitness testimony to the fact that it was anything but gentle. Mr. Felos is a euthanasia advocate, and like all such advocates, he needs to manipulate the language, to sell death in an attractive package. Here he and his friends had a great opportunity to do so. But a priest, seeing their work close-up and then telling the world about it, just didn't fit into their plans.

One of the attacks they made was that a "spiritual person" like a priest should be speaking words of compassion and understanding, instead of venom. I had, in fact, reached out publicly with compassion to Michael Schiavo. But compassion demands truth. A priest is also a prophet, and if he cannot cry out against evil, then he cannot bring about reconciliation. If there is going to be any healing between these families or in this nation, it must start with repentance on the part of those who murdered Terri and now try to cover it up with flowery language.

Can you make a gift to enable us to send this newsletter to every priest in your diocese? Call Jerry at (718) 980-4400

August intention: That God may give eternal rest to the women who died from abortion.

Please help promote our Television and Radio programs!

President, Pontifical Council for the Family

Archbishop of Denver

Archbishop of Military Services

Archbishop of Newark

Archbishop Emeritus of Atlanta

Bishop of Amarillo

Bishop of Phoenix

Bishop of Dodge City

Bishop of Houma-Thibodaux

Auxiliary Bishop of Boston

Bishop Emeritus of Corpus Christi

Bishop Emeritus of Kalamazoo

Bishop Emeritus of Nashville

Bishop Emeritus of Scranton

Bishop Emeritus of Fargo

Bishop Emeritus of Sacramento

Bishop Emeritus of Steubenville

Bishop of Ponce

Bishop of Samoa Pago Pago

Oración al Espíritu Santo, El Defensor

Pope Benedict XVI on Respect for Life

"[The Pope] must not proclaim his own ideas, but rather constantly bind himself and the Church to obedience to God's Word, in the face of every attempt to adapt it or water it down, and every form of opportunism. Pope John Paul II did this when, in front of all attempts, apparently benevolent to the human person, and in the face of erroneous interpretations of freedom, he unequivocally stressed the inviolability of the human being and of human life from the moment of conception until natural death. The freedom to kill is not true freedom, but a tyranny that reduces the human being to slavery." -- from the homily of Pope Benedict XVI at the Mass of Possession of the Chair of the Bishop of Rome, Basilica of St John Lateran, Saturday, 7 May 2005.

Our Latest Product: Terri Schiavo's Final Hours: An Eyewitness Account

Priests for Life has produced an audio CD and a brochure which relate Fr. Frank Pavone's account of the final hours of Terri Schiavo's life, which he spent at her bedside. Not only does Fr. Frank tell us what the euthanasia lobby does not want us to know, but he also gives important reflections about what we do next, and some guidance on end-of-life decisions. Order this important product below.

Please mail your order to: Priests for Life P.O. Box 141172, Staten Island, NY 10314
Or fax it to (718) 980-3900 or Email: orders@priestsforlife.org 

Name: ___________________________________

Address: _________________________________

City: ____________________________________

State/Zip: ________________________________

Phone: __________________________________

Email: __________________________________

___ I have made my check payable to: Priests for Life.

___ I have donated online at www.priestsforlife.org/donate

___ Please charge my contribution to my credit card:

Card Type:_______________________________

Card #:__________________________________ Exp:____/_____

Signature:________________________________

___ Terri Schiavo's Final Hours: CD and brochure, product 1772 for $10.00
Quantity ________ for total $____________

___ Prayer to End Abortion prayer cards: product #1670

Quantity ____25; ____50; ____75;____100; _____other (increments of 25)

@ $0.10 Each for total $______

___ Mass Cards - In Remembrance of the Deceased: product #1708

Quantity_______ (Free)

___ Mass Cards - For the Intentions of the Living: product # 1732

Quantity_______ (Free)