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Bishop LeGatt's Letter
Steps for Identifying Children with Disabilities

                                    BISHOP LEGATT'S LETTER

                                                                        Diocese of Saskatoon
                                                                    OFFICE OF THE BISHOP
100 – 5th Avenue North                                                                                                                        Phone:  (306) 242-1500
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan                                                                                                                    Fax:  (306) 244-6010
S7K 2N7                                                                                                                                                  Website: www.saskatoonrcdiocese.com 
                                                                                                

August 29, 2002

Dear Pastors/Pastoral Ministers and Parish/School Catechists:


In response to a request for guidelines for assisting parents, catechists, pastors and pastoral ministers when dealing with the question of children with certain disabilities (communication, intellectual and/or behavior) participating in the sacramental life of the Church, I would like to offer the following thoughts.  In doing so I am pursuing the direction set out by Bishop James Mahoney (cf his letter of October 8, 1988) and Bishop James Weisgerber (cf his letter of October 8, 1999).  I am also basing myself on the document “Guidelines for the Celebration of the Sacraments with Persons with Disabilities”, a pastoral letter issued by the U. S.  Bishops, 1995 (cf Origins, Vol. 25, No 7). The latter sets out both general principles and specific guidelines for each of the sacraments.
 1.
By Baptism a person is adopted as a son/daughter of God, united to Christ as heir to the Kingdom and becomes a full member of the People of God.  This is a reality of grace, a gift of God’s love that knows no boundaries.  By reason of their baptism as Catholics all are equal in dignity in the sight of God and all  have the same divine calling.  All are filled with the Spirit, all are called to the one table, all are reconciled through God’s loving mercy.
 2.
Thus Catholics with disabilities have a right to participate in the sacraments as full functioning members of the local ecclesial community.  We are not to refuse the sacraments to those children with disabilities who ask for them at appropriate times, (the age when this child’s peers will be receiving the sacraments) and who are properly disposed. They are to be assisted to have the dispositions required for each sacrament and that in a way adapted to their particular situation. Parish sacramental celebrations should be accessible to persons with disabilities and open to their full active and conscious participation according to their capacity.
 3.
The Church has always looked on catechesis as a sacred duty and an inalienable right. Thus every baptized person, precisely by their reason of being baptized, has the right to receive from the Church instruction and education enabling him or her to enter on a truly Christian life.  Children and young people with physical or mental disabilities have a right, like others   their age, to know the “mystery of faith”.

 4.
 They can with assistance, become aware of the presence of God, celebrate faith events and appreciate special moments in their life.  The learning strengths of students with learning disabilities are somewhat different than their typical peers.  This does not mean that they will not learn cognitively, but their learning strengths will be more intuitive, affective and symbolic.  Catechesis must be appropriate to their abilities and their way of learning.  And it is good to remember that the greater difficulties these children encounter give greater merit to their efforts and those of their teachers. (cf Catechesi Tradendae Nos. 14, 40,41)
 5.
 As well these children will respond to the call of their baptism according to their ability.  Hence they should never be denied the opportunity to share their faith with others. Through their own particular witness of such faith realities as an open trusting relationship with their “friend “ Jesus, a simplicity of prayer, a ready willingness to welcome and serve others and of many other such signs of a true faith life they can greatly enrich the entire faith community. Their ways of the heart can break down barriers of fear and their lives of vulnerability and innocence can help create places of love and unconditional acceptance for all.

In closing, I would like to encourage pastors/pastoral ministers catechists and parents to fully take on their role of leading these children to Christ in the sacraments, and of embracing them as a treasure for the Church.  Seek out the catechetical resources that will help you to give appropriate formation to these children and prepare them for the sacraments of Confirmation, Eucharist and Reconciliation in the richest way possible given their capacities and strengths. Above all seek to love them in the way of Christ who said: “Let the little children come to me”.

May God’s abundant blessings be upon you and upon these children so dear to the Lord.

Sincerely in Christ,

 

Most Rev. Albert LeGatt

Bishop of Saskatoon

 

AG:lc
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STEPS FOR IDENTIFICATION OF CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES AND INCLUDING THEM IN THE CELEBRATION OF SACRAMENTS

1.

Walking with the parents after the child is born. Appointing someone from the parish as a coordinator for services for those with disabilities.

Parents have dreams and hopes for all of their unborn children. Their children are the future. Their children will go on to do bigger and more significant things than they.  Becoming parents of a child with disabilities is often perceived as a blow to the hopes and dreams they held for that child. The birth of the child may evoke anger with God, deep feelings of loss, and even thoughts of shame. In some instances it may be that parents initially feel the birth of a child with disabilities to be punishment from God.

It would be valuable if someone in the parish, preferably someone who has a child with disabilities walk this journey with them and to help them grieve the loss of dream which they are experiencing, and to help them recognize that this child is gift. It is important to make sure that parents know that the parish is there to support them.
2.

Encouraging the parents of children with disabilities to feel welcome and to be active participants in the parish life.
3.

Encouraging the parents to bring their child to Mass regularly, preferably the same Mass in a larger parish.


This will enable the child and the regular goers to Mass at that time to recognize each other and to accept each other as part of that community.
4.
 Learning to recognize the gifts this person brings rather than the disability.
5.

Encourage the parents to teach the child the nature of the meal that is being celebrated.
6.

Encourage the parents to teach the child simple signs of reverence, making the Sign of the Cross, etc.
7.

As the child grows, include the child in regular parts of parish life, e.g. children’s liturgy, bringing up the gifts, altar serving.
8.

Include the child in regular catechism classes.

Explain to the other children the nature of the disability. Children will accept if they understand. If the child needs one on one attention make sure there is someone there to help the child feel integrated with the group. This person should be someone with whom the child can and wishes to enter into a trusting relationship.

It is important to remember a line from the video A Credo for Support “Do not try to be my friend. I deserve more than that. Get to know me. We may become friends.”
9.
 Share with parents the bishop’s letter regarding preparation of children with disabilities for the sacraments.

Make sure they and their children feel welcome and are included in parish programs. It is best to begin them with the Sacrament of Eucharist. It is important that the parents accompany them on this journey, or that someone with whom they are in a trusting relationship be a mentor or sponsor for them.

The program authorized for use in the Diocese of Saskatoon is Barube’s On Our Way With Jesus series, which is based on the Rite of Christian Initiation of Children.

In it the authors say that initiation of children into the sacramental life of the church involves five things:

a) The experience of mentoring
We don’t come to faith alone. It is in modeling a life based on faith that allows the child to grasp the concept of love and how that translates into trusting relationships. The mentor must be able to understand that what we perceive as disability is normalcy for the child with the disability.

b) The experience of the Gospel
Telling children gospel stories will help children to live their lives as Jesus did, trusting the Father.  They will learn to live in the moment, because this moment is the most important one of their lives.  It is in this moment that we are aware of God’s sustaining presence with us. Teaching them gospel stories of Jesus’ acceptance and healing of the excluded will teach them much about how we are to live in our daily lives.  We will learn that power comes from powerlessness. How much we can learn from those with disabilities about living in trust, learning to live in awareness of God’s sustaining presence.

c) The experience of community
All children need to have the experience of a praying, welcoming, inclusive community that is at the service of all, where they can really experience the resurrected Christ. The parish needs the children to bring forth their enthusiasm, their sense of wonder, their truth, and their questions to be converted to being, a loving, welcoming community. Children with disabilities will certainly teach us what it means to be a welcoming community. If we enter into their lives and if they befriend us we will learn much from them. They can teach us much about what it means to be human and what it means to live in community.

d) The experience of Christian Ritual
Rituals are important because they speak to the mind, the body, the spirit, the heart, the guts; they speak to both our thoughts and our emotions. Children, especially children with disabilities, are more in their bodies than their heads; therefore, they love and respond to ritual. How important to incorporate them into the worshiping community.

e) The experience of time
Every person wants to know that they are the beloved from the very beginning. Eucharist is one of our first rites of passage that proclaims to us that we are the beloved of God who nourishes us as a community through the body and blood of Jesus. Joined together in common belief and common experience of the Eucharist we are challenged to live in communion with God and one another. Approaching the Eucharist we must learn that we are called to be an inclusive community. Eucharist should not be a sign of exclusion; it must be a sign of inclusion.
10.

When they are ready for reconciliation, have a very sympathetic priest walk them through the sacrament.
11.

Children with disabilities should be prepared for confirmation at the regular age, with other children.  During preparation for Confirmation make sure children with disabilities are introduced to service projects and are included with their able-bodied peers.  It would be good to pair them with and able-bodied child who will help them with the project.

12.

Children with disabilities will be gift to the church if they are included in the life of the church.
As they get older they will be able to do jobs in the church as welcomers, as gift presenters. Their regular presence will help all to deal with their own feelings of fear and inadequacy. We may learn from them that it is in weakness that we truly find strength.
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