18-May-2005 -- Catholic World News Brief
POPE MEETS WITH SCHIAVO PARENTSVatican, May. 18 (CWNews.com) - Pope Benedict XVI met with the parents of Terri Schiavo at his weekly public audience on May 18. Bob and Mary Schindler attended the Pope's Wednesday audience, with a spot near the front of the crowd in St. Peter's Square. When the Pope mingled with members of the audience, he shook hands with the Schindlers, and Mary Schindler presented him with photos of their daughter. Terri Schiavo died on March 31, at the age of 41, after a long legal battle in which her estranged husband sought-- and finally won, despite the efforts of her parents-- court authorization to remove the feeding tube that provided her with food and water. For more than a decade after a traumatic injury, she had required assistance in eating. Michael Schiavo persuaded the court that she should no longer receive that assistance. Several Vatican officials had protested the Florida court decision to remove Terri Schiavo's feeding tube. On May 17 the Schindlers had met privately with Cardinal Renato Martino, the president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, who had been particularly outspoken in defending the life of the brain-damaged woman. |