President of Italian bishops’ conference pleads for life of Eluana

Rome, Italy, Feb 6, 2009 / 09:30 am

The Archbishop of Genoa and president of the Italian Bishops’ Conference, Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, has issued a fervent plea that Eluana Englaro, the Italian woman who has been in a “persistent vegetative state” for 17 years, not be euthanized by her father, who intends to remove her feeding tubes today.

In a story published by the L’Osservatore Romano, the cardinal points out, “We are at a very grave and sad moment in the history of our beloved country, and the death by euthanasia of Eluana Englaro” would be “a grave wound” and a “failure.”

“We are very concerned because this kind of a path toward euthanasia would have a very painful conclusion, it would be a grave wound in our culture, which has always been a culture that promotes, cares for and defends life in all of its forms, especially when it is most fragile, as our Pope has recalled,” the cardinal added.

Cardinal Bagnasco said, “The degree of civilization of a people, of a culture, is marked first of all by its capacity to respect and embrace, in the most beautiful, most responsible way, life when it is fragile: from the moment of conception until natural death.”

Outside the La Quiete Hospital, where Eluana is being kept, pro-life groups have gathered to offer prayers and solidarity with the woman known as “Italy’s Terri Schiavo.”