Including Catholics with disabilities benefits entire parish community |
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Written by MARYLISA BOOSE, Special to the Chronicle
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Friday, 03 October 2008 01:00 |
Including people with disabilities in church life leads to a richer parish life for all — that’s the message of the National Catholic Partnership on Disability (NCPD).
NCPD has launched a special effort this year to completely implement the pastoral statement the U.S. bishops wrote 30 years ago that challenged Catholics to include people with disabilities in all aspects of parish life.
The statement has a simple message — people with disabilities don’t want pity. They simply want, and deserve, to be included. And, as parishes include those with disabilities, they find the entire parish benefits.
"When we think of people with disabilities in relation to ministry, we tend automatically to think of doing something for them," the bishops wrote in 1978. "We do not reflect that they can do something for us and with us ... they have the same duty as all members of the community to do the Lord’s work in the world."
The inclusion promoted by NCPD can come in many areas — building and grounds, worship, faith formation and education. That means not just physical assistance such as ramps and Braille signs, but accommodations in programs and encouraging people with disabilities to take leadership roles such as being eucharistic ministers.
NCPD emphasizes the need for accommodations for parishioners with disabilities varies with each community, but many parishes find reaching out to the disabled also ends up helping the non-disabled.
"What is a necessity for one, is a convenience for many," according to NCPD literature.
In an effort to give parishes ideas for welcoming people with disabilities, NCPD recently held a Webinar (Web-based seminar) with speakers and the opportunity for participants to ask questions online.
A full report on the Webinar is posted at the NCPD Web site, www.ncpd.org.
Peg Kolm, coordinator of ministry for the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., spoke of efforts to include the disabled from two perspectives. In addition to her ministry, she also has a disabled daughter.
"I had no idea the bishops had written on disabilities," she said, calling it a "life-changing moment" when she learned of the pastoral statement urging all Catholics to welcome people with disabilities.
NCPD is urging all parishes to spend the next year to examine their own programs and to make a special effort to reach out to people with disabilities and their families.
In the Toledo Diocese, that effort officially started in 1996 when Kitty Kruse worked with the Human Rights Commission to establish programs focused on people with disabilities and the Equal Access Ministry office was established.
Current director, Marsha Rivas, took the helm in October 2001 and has dedicated her career to reaching every corner of the diocese with her efforts and information.
"If you don’t know something and don’t know who to ask, that’s when people fall through the cracks," she says. "Sometimes I just know what to ask."
The lengthy list of services the ministry provides addresses all disabilities parishioners and their families face. Mrs. Rivas helps with pastoral services, catechetical and spiritual development, education and advocacy.
"Let’s say in a small parish, the pastoral leader may feel ill-equipped to reach out to a person and family with a disability," she says. "My office can offer resources to help break down the barriers and help the parish and also help the individuals feel like they belong in the parish."
Mrs. Rivas has been working with people with disabilities, especially developmental disabilities, for about seven years. After a stint teaching at a Catholic school, she received a master’s degree in human development and the family, with a major in independent living.
Mrs. Rivas says her combined background of teaching and academic studies fit perfectly with her role in the equal access ministry.
She faces two obstacles in meeting her goals — parishioners who don’t understand the challenges some others face and parishioners with disabilities who are reluctant to participate because of their difference.
"Everybody has the best intentions," Mrs. Rivas says. "But people still feel excluded sometimes."
She adds even when parishes publish invitations to all, some families, including people with disabilities, tend to think they won’t fit in so they may choose to stay away. That is when people in the parish need to reach out a hand and do whatever they can to make sure everyone feels included, Mrs. Rivas says.
Some improvements, such as ramps and other physical changes to make buildings handicapped-accessible, require funding, but once they are accomplished the need is filled. Other changes — such as accommodating the needs of parishioners facing deafness, blindness, developmental delays and mental retardation — are more difficult because they sometimes require different types of attention over the years.
"Current statistics show about one in five, or 20 percent, of people have some disability," Mrs. Rivas says. "We try to teach parish leaders how to invite everyone and make people feel welcome."
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More information on the range of services the Equal Access Ministry offers is available at www.toledodiocese.org under the Pastoral Leadership tab in red on the left-hand side. Mrs. Rivas can be contacted directly at ext. 528 at any of these phone numbers: 419-244-6711, 800-926-8277 or TTY 419-243-1475. Her e-mail address is equalaccess@toledodiocese.org.
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Last Updated on Monday, 22 December 2008 11:09 |
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