The persons with special needs : and the celebration of the sacraments

Abstract

What urged me to write this essay with this particular title, are the personal experiences social and ecclesiastical in which I found myself, particularly, when my daughter Lorraine, who is a person with a mental disability, was refused to receive the Sacraments. The Christian Communities, established to be heavens of love and support, have in reality, often become towering edifices of rejection, both physically and environmentally. Persons with disabilities are absent from participating fully in the life of the Church partly because of the architectural barriers of those churches, but mainly because of the prejudice and discomfort which still prevails in the Christian communities which ironically should be as welcoming as Jesus Christ was to all. My personal stories, and stories which personal friends have experienced are astonishingly distressing, others are uplifting positive episodes. However both are part of the reality of the Roman Catholic Church and other Christian Churches. The persons with developmental disabilities are capable, in their own particular way, to understand and to love. Therefore each one of them, according to his/her limits, can receive religious formation, which the community of believers has the duty to give. But how is this formation, which should enrich the life of faith, to be proclaimed to persons whose intellectual ability is limited. Hundreds of parents, teachers, religious leaders and catechists await with great anxiety to be guided in this regard. It is a fact, not an accusation, that most of the clergy have not been too prominent in mainstreaming people with disability in the parish community, both spiritually and physically. The whole Church, but especially bishops, parish priests, priests, deacons and religious, should make the ministry for the disabled a present-day imitation of the example of the loving Christ ministering to the poor, the sick and the needy (Mt. 11:4-5), whose interests were especially dear to his Heart (Mt. 9:36; 15:22; 20:34; Mk 9:22; Lk 7:13). The Christian message teaches that every person is created in the image of God and every person has a right for salvation. In this regard, persons with disability offer a challenge to the whole community, as they announce exactly what the people of the so called "bronze dream" wish to deny, that life is finite, that death embraces us, and that to know God or another human being is to stand in need. Sacramental encounters are possible only when each believer admits her or his own inadequacies and disabilities. I will show how reflections on the Old Testament and New Testament stories give light to sacramental access to persons with disability, stories which indicate in a way that persons with disability are first and foremost persons, they are not less human. Ethical reflections on accessibility of the sacraments by the persons with disability is also a very interesting theme which gives us much food for thought. People with disability in our midst help us to know ourselves, to learn how to accept the persons with disabilities, and how to enter into relationships with other human beings, and with God. The way the persons with disabilities are introduced to the experiential and symbolic nature of the sacraments lies in the right catechetical formation. Faith education is not the same as transmission of knowledge, but it is a call to relate. We will see that the Code of Canon Law, like the Civil Law, is a complex system which requires trained experts to interpret it properly. The best interpretation of a Church law is not always evident from an initial reading of it. When a canon requires the "use of reason" for the reception of first Holy Communion, what does this mean? Does it apply to persons with developmental disabilities? Baptism and the other sacraments are sacred actions of the faith community, not mere private means of grace for individuals. Through their sacramental initiation into the Church community, all the baptised attain their fundamental legal rights in the Church, including the right to the other sacraments. A pastoral process is necessary to initiate any person into the parish's sacramental life. In the case of persons with mental disabilities, the parish might consider carefully selecting some of its members to be sponsors, so that these members can be with them and help them in their sacramental initiation into the parish's life. Society, nowadays is more aware of the problems which the persons with disabilities are facing and great endeavours are being made in order to make the community more aware of its responsibilities towards these persons and also safeguarding the disabled people's rights by law. At times, congregations send money and personnel to the far reaches of the world and ignore the needs of alienated persons nearer their homes. Similarly, at times it is easy for a congregation to delegate a small group to assume responsibility for disability ministry while most of the congregation does not even know such a ministry exists. Everyone is to be involved, the whole community of believers. The Church has often assisted people with disability since medieval times. The Church sees itself imitating the master's personal concern for those who are disabled as recorded in so many of the stories in the Gospel. The Church must keep herself abreast of things, and show a sterling example of concern by its own performance, becoming the strong advocate of additional progress for people with disability. In 1981, the Holy See approved the initiative of the United Nations that people with developmental disabilities deserve the continuous support of the community at large because a) of their number - it is calculated that there are about 400 million people with some sort of disability and b) because of their particular human and social condition. The Church cannot remain passive in the face of their suffering and offers her collaboration and support because of its intrinsic nature, its mission and its vocation and because the Church always had the best interests of these brothers at heart. As could be deduced, the problem is universal, and it is in our interest to see the local situation and what we, as a religious nation are doing to integrate the persons with disabilities in our schools, communities and parishes. The "Kummissjoni Pastorali Persuni B' Diżabilita" met in 1994 and some issues were tackled concerning the persons with disabilities. We are hearing today of a White Paper involving education and job opportunities for the disabled people and this is certainly a sign that we are moving in the right direction.