Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor (Westminster, UK) has given a great Easter sermon, one that mentions Terri Schiavo and the defense of life. Here is the excellent text on her:

In the United States this week we have had the moving case of Terri
Schiavo, the brain-damaged woman who is now starving to death because a court ordered her feeding tube to be removed; the view of the
court is that her life is not worth living. People say that withdrawing
her tube is to let nature take its course. But how natural is it to
starve to death? She is totally dependent on others for food and water,
it has been argued. But so is a baby. So are many elderly people. What
is wrong with being helpless and dependent? Our true nature is one of
dependence of dependence on God for life, on our parents for nurture,
on our friends, and our colleagues. Human beings were created
interdependent; only our fallen nature believes we can make it alone. How well do our institutions and our laws safeguard protect those most
deserving of our protection? In Britain, there are now 180,000
abortions a year the highest ever because these are not lives
considered worth saving. Research embryos, surplus to in vitro
treatment, are created, then discarded, because they do not have the
right tissue type; they did not meet the criteria for life. The
pressure to allow euthanasia is mounting; is it any wonder our elderly
people are increasingly disrespected?

In all these cases, the terrible truth is that it is the strong who
decide the fate of the weak; human beings therefore become instruments
in the hands of other human beings. But that way, as we have seen so
often in human history, lies disaster for us all.


The intrinsic dignity of human life the source of our hope - comes
from knowing that God died for us, and raised up his only Son, his only
Son who died the death of a worthless criminal. The dignity of life is
not naturally apparent to human beings; it is the gift of faith, God’s
gift to us. A Christian country is one that starts from that gift, that
believes that the most helpless are those who most deserve our
protection even the poorest and most despised of creatures. They
deserve our protection because God created them, God died for them, God
rose for them. But do we in Britain really embrace this? Do we raise
our voices on behalf of those who no one to protect them? Do we really
believe that God is the author of life, our Father?

Read the whole sermon (highly recommended)