Articles

01/06/2020

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1. Introduction 

 

Each of us is created in God's image. God loves us as we are, with our own particular gifts and limitations, strengths and weaknesses. Christ’s liberating message of love and

hope celebrates difference because He values each and every person as unique and equal. Christ teaches us that, through knowing and loving Him, each of us can grow in the knowledge and love of God. All of us are called to express God’s love in our daily life, valuing the difference and equal dignity of every person. Each of us has a unique vocation and mission. The rich diversity of the body of Christ includes those who live  with disabilities.

 

Society has been challenged to recognise the social, cultural and civic rights of persons

with disabilities as equal members of society, and to progressively remove barriers to the exercising of these rights. This has been the result of campaigning action by pressure groups and individuals, as well as growing social awareness of the need for equality of opportunity for all.  New legislation, has defined the rights of persons with disabilities regarding access to goods, services, facilities and opportunities in employment and education which people without disabilities can take for granted.

 

In the Church too, a shift in attitude and understanding has begun to take place. Today there is greater awareness in parishes and dioceses of the importance of access and inclusion of all.  One practical aspect of access and inclusion fo all is in giving baptised persons with disabilities the right to receive from the Church, education and instruction enabling them to enter on a truly Christian life... “ By giving this right the Church is acknowledging that every person, however limited, is capable of growth in holiness and to give witness to faith.

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2. Catechesis and the Christian Life

 

Catechesis is central to the evangelising task of the Church and to the lives of all Christians. It is activity which calls people to faith in Christ, to baptism and to maturity in that faith.

 

At each stage of life, catechesis assists baptised people to live their baptismal vocation, both personally and communally. It involves growth in a personal relationship with Christ and growth in prayer and in belonging to the Church, as well as gradual exploration of the Church’s faith. It bears fruit in the liveliness, faithfulness and compassion of the whole community and in the witness given by each person living faith in his or her own particular circumstances.

 

At certain stages, such as when adults or children are preparing to celebrate sacraments for the first time, an organised and systematic programme of catechesis is usually provided, led by catechists. Sometimes these programmes involve sponsors and other helpers, or include meetings for parents and other family members. At other times, catechetical activity may be an element in other pastoral activities such as a bereavement group, a parish pilgrimage, a mission or retreat, or a course on Catholic Social Teaching.

 

The Church’s documents state very clearly that all the baptised are entitled to receive catechesis (e.g Code of Canon Law 774-777, General Directory for Catechesis 167, 168). They also encourage parishes and dioceses to see catechesis as a priority, requiring energy, resources and commitment. Very often the documents describe the catechetical needs of particular groups such as children, adolescents and older people, and increasingly they stress the primary importance of the catechesis of adults. The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) sets out the principles that must underpin all catechesis: that it contains at its heart the telling and hearing of the Gospel; that it is a journey in faith that is communal and mutual, with catechists and those who are catechised learning more of the mystery of Christ from each other; that it is always an ecclesial activity, inextricably linked to the sacramental life of the Church.

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3. Catechesis must include persons with disabilities

 

As members of the Church, persons with disabilities are entitled to receive and indeed, where suitably qualified, give catechesis within the Christian community. Persons with disabilities who do not yet belong to the Church are also among those whom the Church

seeks to call to faith. This is explicitly stated in the Church’s documents (General Directory for Catechesis 189 and Code of Canon Law 777).  Disability should not be perceived as an obstacle to the journey in faith which we all travel and which is nourished and deepened by catechesis.

 

It is desirable that, wherever possible, persons with disabilities are included in the ordinary catechetical programmes and activities of each parish.  For those with physical or sensory disabilities, this will require attention to how they can have access and participate as fully as possible. For those with learning disabilities, the possibility of their being included in the parish programmes should not be automatically discounted.

 

The inclusion of persons with disabilities in catechetical activities underlines the vocation of us all to belong to the body of Christ, each bringing our individual gifts and insights into the mystery of Christ to be shared with other members of that body. It also usually adds to the quality of the catechesis for other people, because catechists have to plan carefully and use a wider range of methods, images and resources. Most importantly, when persons with disabilities are readily included and valued equally, then the fundamentally inclusive nature of the Church is seen and expressed more fully. It is a catechesis in itself.

 

In Valuing Difference publised by the Bishop’s Conference of England and Wales one can find practical suggestions to help parishes and dioceses to assess and develop the inclusion of persons with disabilities in catechetical activity.

 

This document calls all those responsible for catechesis to pay particular attention to making catechetical activities accessible to adults and children with disabilities, just as they adapt their methods and means to meet the needs of anyone involved in catechesis.   At a basic level, this means examining the physical surroundings, offering help with transport and paying attention to other practical matters. They will also have to look at the catechetical materials used, the forms of communication used, and the expectations and assumptions regarding participation and response. The way in which each disabled person is included will depend on their particular condition, and catechists, sponsors and others who help with catechesis will need to be adaptive, imaginative and creative.  For example, those who are deaf or hard of hearing, with the assistance of an interpreter, could take part in the parish confirmation programme. Children or adults with visual impairment could take part in a parish cathesis if they have assistance, and if resources on tape, in Braille, or in large print are available. Some catechetical resources are easily adaptable to a range of needs.  Catechists, sponsors, priests and others involved in catechesis need opportunities to learn about and reflect on the ways that persons with disabilities may respond to what they are learning. For example, persons with intellectual disabilities are often particularly responsive to physical expression, and to symbols and to rituals, which enable them to learn what faith means in a very direct way. Sounds, touch and images are also especially valuable aids to catechesis involving persons with such disabilities. Catechesis that uses these aids and methods will also be more enriching for the whole group, as they will encounter all the languages of faith rather than just its verbal and intellectual expression. The way in which catechesis is a mutual and reciprocal process can also be evident as persons with intellectual disabilities catechise others by the response they give to symbols and rituals.  The Special Religious Develeopment Programm (SRED) developed in 1960 by Fr.James McCarthy from the Archdiocese of Chicago, was delveloped on this concept.

 

4. The vision of the Special Religious Develeopment Programm (SRED)

 

SPRED’s mission is to work with parents, special educators and catechist volunteers. SPRED’s philosophy is now embodied in the Diocesan ministries.  We can say that SPRED catechesis is a question of personal transformation "The goal is to speak the message of the person of Christ who becomes present from within our life experience as it unfolds symbolically". It is a question of a personal relationship with God. SPRED establishes communities of faith so that all persons with intellectual disabilities can be prepared for full belonging in their parish community to recieve the appropriate catechesis.

 

SPRED believes in the dignity and value of every person, that all persons are created by God for a unique mission in the world and to bring their special gifts in the lives of those they encounter, that community of Christian faith plays an important role in the sharing of faith, that every person should need an environment in which feel welcome, free, loved, and secure for developing fully, that all grow in faith in the community.

 

In symbolic catechesis it is clear that persons with disabilities are open to mysetery through symbolic awareness ie: the senses of seeing, hearing, touching, smelling and tasting. The aspects of reflection, time and awareness and mind are important to understand what one is really seeing, hearing or learning. Sometimes they go through moments when one thinks that nothing is happening. But at one point we get to know more about what is really happening and we intuitively get to know that some form of emotion moves within these persons with disability in terms of Christ’s teachings.

 

5. SPRED method at Id-Dar tal-Providenza

 

SPRED’s methodology is used at Id-Dar tal-Providenza, a Church run home in Malta which offers a residence with a warm and family-like environment for persons with disabilities, who for some reason or another couldn’t remain living with their natural family.   Id-Dar tal-Providenza, together with SPRED (Special Religious Development) from Glasgow, started offering this method some years ago to assist its residents to become integrated in parish assemblies of worship through the process of education in faith.

Fr Trevor Fairclough who coordinates this program at Id-Dar tal-Providenza told me that six faith companions and six friends (persons with disabilities) areinvolved in each catechetical group of SPRED and they all work in relationship one with another together with two catechetical leaders.  At id-Dar tal-Providenza, the faith companions meet twice a month and the friends meet once every month.  There are four groups divided by age: 6-10 years, 11-16 years, 17-21 years, 22 onwards. There is no limit of time because SPRED increases the life of faith and nobody stops growing in a relationship with God.

 

Therefore the way of teaching catechisis uses an inductive, symbolic and liturgical technique, with an inductive method growing within lived events and activities.

 

(i) Evocation of a human experience: This is the experience of assisting these friends (as the programm SPRED called them) with intellectual disabilities to become prepared for the moment of catechesis in the celebration room. What is essential here is the need to understand the value of becoming still, of entering into a personal silence, making it possible for the entire community to experience being together, engaging personal activity that invites concentration and gradually develops an inner experience in their lives. Each person that is welcomed has his/her personality, strengths and challenges. Life’s experiences have profound meanings. To become aware of what is experiencing on day to day basis and various experiences with people is a skill. It is the leader’s role to help each person to become conscious of what one goes through on a daily basis. This evocation of human experience can take various simple forms such as playing with others or talking. This is essential as this method allows one to get into one’s own thoughts and these thoughts are shared as a consicous awareness.

 

(ii) An evocation of a lived liturgical event: Here the group takes the next step as a community of faith rather than just a means of self-help. This is felt in the evocation of a lived liturgical event. Here the gropus become conscious and alive in what they experience in a daily basis but in relation to their experience in liturgy. Here the group is filled with a sense of sacredness of life.

 

(iii) Reading from Scriptures: At this stage, as the group is filled with faith, the leader goes to each person with a blessing and a text from the Bible, such as “John, today, Jesus says to you, I love you”

 

(iv) Agape meal: Food is then shared as a sign of celebration and joy. The ritual meal is the setting where the community enter into the Sunday’s liturgy. The members who have a disability nurture a sense of the meal as a ritual.

 

When one reflects on this positive experience with these special friends, I have seen how this method SPRED is effective, dynamic and holistic. In the meeting, one can notice a strong link that exists between catechesis and liturgy - bbetween what one believes, celebrates and lives. In my opinion, this is a life experience of faith. I've notice the friendship that exists between the catechists and these special friends, who share their time and their faith together. I had personally felt a sense of family and togetherness in the celebration of the Word and during the Agape.

 

Therefore, one can easily say that the SPRED method is a way that helps people with intellectual disabilities to take their rightful place in the Catholic Church. This way, Pope John Paul II’s words in Catechesis Tradendae become real when He said:  "they have a right, like others of their age, to know the mystery of faith"

 

5. A Way Forward

 

The method SPRED invites persons with intellectual disabilities in the catechetical activities in our parishes. This helps our community to be with each other, and not to segregate anyone from the experience of the same community.  This method fosters a link between catechesis and liturgy and although it is used atId-Dar tal-Providenza it may reach its climax in our parishes.   Although we often have many limitations, but if we plan together and work together as Pastoral Unities this reality that exists will be available also in our parishes.

 

6. Conclusion

 

Persons with disabilities want to and seek to serve the community rather than be pitied. They want to be part of the Church us much as people who do not have any disabilities. Our interaction needs to reflect our faith in them as our brothers and sisters as there can never be a separate church for people with disabilties. We are all sheep with one shepherd.

Our love for God needs to be reflected in the openness, service and love towards these people. It is of utmost importance that as children of God, we feel responsible for these brothers and sisters of ours in their spirituality and physical needs. At the end of the assignment I would like to recommend that it is imperative that parishes need to have catechesis for persons with disabilities that would support them and assist them.

 

With optitimism we look forward to the future. The Church’s traditions of ministry to persons with disabilities will push for contemporary circumstances that will enable us to call for justice for these people. We need to work for them as their brothers and sisters in Christ. Every person has the right to develop one’s potentials to the fullest. With God’s aid, we will one day be enlightened to understand that the development of one’s potentials to the fullest is the essence of life and each person’s responsability as Christ’s loyal servants in love.

 

Can. Robin Camilleri

President Grupp Gwarjola