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Editor, The North Country Gazette:
Regarding the article "Schiavo-Centonze Marriage At Risk" which you published on January 29, I have a few comments.
1. First, the writer is absolutely correct. This "marriage" is completely invalid and uncanonical. Unfortunately, this is not a new thing in Catholic parishes in the US. For 40 years, we have had to put up with these kinds of shenanigans going on, and no one taking the initiative to correct the situation--even the Vatican.
2. But not only is this "marriage" invalid--non-existent in the eyes of God and the Church--but it is also sacrilegious. Anyone abusing a sacred thing, such as the sacrament of matrimony, is guilty of sacrilege. The penalty for sacrilege of this nature used to be excommunication. However, today this penalty is rarely used, since today we are so much more "enlightened" than our forebears. Now we just let people get away with murder--literally--and pretend to marry in our churches! One wonders, even if the penalty were sent down, if this couple would pay it any heed, except as a media event. If they are not impressed by the sacred character of marriage--and who thinks Michael Schiavo is?--then they will not be impressed by this penalty either.
3. It also used to be normal that priests would refuse to baptize children whose parents refused to raise them Catholic. Does anyone seriously think Michael Schiavo would consent to raising his kids Catholic? Now either this priest at Espiritu Santo was being lied to in this matter or he is complicit in this charade. Either way, the sacrament of baptism is being used by the Schiavo bunch as a social event and no more.
4. My suggestion is this: Someone with the pertinent documentation should send everything with a carefully worded cover letter to the Apostolic Nuncio in Washington. A copy to Bishop Lynch would normally be required, and should be sent despite his apparent blindness in this matter. The writer of this letter should politely request the Nuncio to issue a statement regarding the Church's stand on such a "union" as that between Schiavo and his consort. The writer should also request that the matter be referred to the Vatican, so that a ruling can be made on the validity of this "marriage" and on the "appropriateness" of the wedding taking place as it did in a Catholic parish. While the outcome of such appeals to the hierarchy are always slow even at the best of times, the mention of Terri Schiavo's name may ring some bells in the Vatican and serve to expedite the case.
Wayne Nichols
St. Marys, KS
© 2005 North
Country Gazette
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