Schiavo given last rites

2005-03-28 13:22

Florida - Terri Schiavo was given last rites and Easter communion - a drop of wine, but no bread - as relatives of the brain-damaged woman asked protesters gathered outside her hospice to tone down their behaviour.

Neither Schiavo's parents nor her husband offered new, specific details on her condition, but one of the two priests who visited her hospital room said the brain-damaged woman's "death is imminent".

"We are Terri's voice. Right now, Terri is fighting for her life," the Rev Patrick Mahoney angrily shouted on Sunday.

Schiavo's mother, Mary Schindler, did not visit her daughter, emotions keeping her from the hospice for the first time since Terri's feeding tube was pulled, said Paul O'Donnell, a monk and family spokesperson.

"If she goes in there again, we might have to take her to the hospital," O'Donnell said.

One Easter victory

But the woman's parents claimed one Easter victory: Terri received communion wine after her husband allowed her to receive the sacrament.

As her brother, sister and brother-in-law looked on, the Rev Thaddeus Malanowski held Terri's right hand as he and hospice priest Rev Joseph Braun placed the droplet on her tongue. Malanowski also anointed her with holy oil, offered a blessing and absolved her of sin.

"She received the blood of Christ," said Malanowski, adding he could not give her a fleck of communion bread because her tongue was too dry.

By previous court order, Terri Schiavo was allowed to receive communion once more with the consent of her husband and guardian, Michael Schiavo, who has fought her parents for years about whether the woman would want to live or die.

Tensions were noticeably heightened both among the protesters and, apparently, among the closest confidants to the woman's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler.

David Gibbs III, their lead lawyer, told CBS' Face the Nation that Schiavo has "passed where physically she would be able to recover".

Pleaded with supporters

"In the family's opinion, that is absolutely not true," spokesperson Randall Terry said outside the hospice.

The Schindler family, also bothered by repeated arrests and heightened angst, pleaded with supporters to tone down their behaviour. They had little success; five people were arrested and chants of "Give Terri water!" echoed for much of the day.

Doctors have said Terri Schiavo, 41, would probably die within a week or two once the feeding tube - which kept her alive for 15 years - was disconnected. She relied on the tube since suffering catastrophic brain damage when her heart stopped beating and oxygen was cut off to her brain.

At Michael Schiavo's Clearwater home, protesters dropped roses and Easter lilies on his lawn - a peaceful protest interrupted when sprinklers came on suddenly.

His fiancee's brother picked up the flowers and handed them to a bystander. John Centonze declined to answer questions, only saying that Michael Schiavo was "very upset".

- AP