Disabilities and the Catholic Church (new lawsuits?)

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5/30/2005
By M. Lynn Booker
SPERO NEWS

First off, let me say right now that I understand that Catholic Charities runs several different programs (which vary by diocese) for the developmentally disabled and mentally retarded. I am not saying that we, as Catholics, do nothing for the disabled.

What I am saying, as the mother of a severely developmentally disabled child, is that we do very little on the parish level to deal with the problems faced by families of the disabled. Our parishes are ill-equipped to deal with the issues that a family with a disabled member brings to the table. And I do mean the table, the table of Christ. Where, if you believe the music, all are welcome, even the mute, the slow, the deformed, and the lame.

We’ve been in four different parishes over the past six years. Only one of these had a CCE/RE class that was geared towards the handicapped. It met every other week during the 10am Mass, until it was ended. None of the parishes has had a set of guidelines for administering the sacraments to the

disabled. None of the parishes has had special seating for the physically handicapped. None of the parishes had a quiet area where a disabled person might go to calm down if they became distressed. The bathrooms have had the federally-mandated wheelchair-accessible toilet area, but there are no easily accessible sinks, no areas for infants (or older children) to be changed, and they often have poky entrances that would make entering in a wheelchair problematic. We’ve visited two other parishes, both of which had no cry-room at all, merely, in one case, a narthex where the city’s homeless gathered to escape the weather, or, in the other, a noisy echoing marble-floored narthex without any seating.

It is a problem on the parish level, sure. The USCCB shouldn’t have to mandate that every parish have good bathrooms or adequae cry-rooms. But the problem is merely a small slice of the larger problem – we, as Catholics, have not made a stand for the disabled. We have not achieved harmony between the very clear call from Christ to do “for the least of these” and our squeamishness and discomfort with the handicapped…
Full article
 
Catholic Sentinel just had an extensive article on how disabled Catholics are able to participate in the Church. I think unfortunately that people are used to the unlimited budget of school districts used to mainstreaming children with very profound disabilities. Many churches are older and it would be difficult to renovate them, add ramps, special facilities etc. I don’t know the answer but I have to wonder how much of this is a product of self absorption.

We have several very disabled folks in our parish who attend mass and we accommodate them using motorized chairs to come to the altar for communion. OTOH I don’t know what a church can do about an autistic child having a meltdown during mass. There may not be the financial wherewithal to provide a private room to settle the person down. I think both sides have to do some accommodation.

Lisa N
 
This is a very, very difficult issue. Most of the newer churches, and those who have had some renovation that I have been to do have a space, either next to the front pew or the back pew, to accomodate wheel chairs. Some churches do have “crying” rooms, but of course those are filled with various families with young children, and would probably not be good to take a child having a melt down. Some children who are not disabled, go through stages where they melt down in church. Some can be quieted quickly, and those who can not, could be taken outside or maybe to an adjacent parish hall to calm down.

I beleive there are guidelines for administering sacraments to the disabled, but I can’t say off hand where they are. I would think that once accessed, an individual parish could be guided through the process. Some disabled kids might benefit from a class setting, and others may be best taught privately.

As far as lawsuits go, if organizations such as schools and churches that do not receive government funding are nevertheless made to accomodate faster than their budget might allow, it could spell disaster for them. IMO, suing a church, or parochial school over accomodations would be a mistake.

Educating the DRE and pastor on whatever guidelines are in place for administering sacraments to those who are disabled and becoming involved as a parent of a child with a disability is probably the best thing to do.
 
I’d say it would be difficult for a church that was built a long time ago to retrofit everything to fit all disabilities. I think many do what they can with the funds/space they have. I found our church didn’t exactly have a plan for CCD for developmentally disabled children - however they do their best to meet the needs of these children. I’ve often wondered, now that i’ve converted if I should contact the priest or DRE and discuss some kind of class just for these kids.

I personally think lawsuits are the 100% wrong way to go. If there’s a problem, work with your church to find a suitable workable ‘fix’ to it. Don’t add to the problem. If they don’t have the funds to add enough ramps, they don’t have the funds to pay lawyers and lawsuits. Help find ways to raise the funds to make these changes, or hire some teachers, etc.
 
In the Archdiocese of Chicago, there has been a major push over the past several years to assist the disabled via handicapped accessibility and such. I think that there are creative ways to deal with many of the problems. You don’t always need to create a ramp or elevator. Install an electric chair lift to get people up stairs, for instance.
 
The church I belong to is 45 years old and was handicapped accessable when it was built.

Another church I regularly attend is 150 years old. An elevator was recently installed. There is no way one can tell that the elevator wasn’t there when the church was built, except that elevators hadn’t been invented back then.

The Catholic Church doesn’t meet the needs of many people, not just the people with disablilties. Hispanics are leaving the Catholic Church in record numbers and joining Protestant Churches. Men who want to become priests are faced with expensive and poor quality seminaries.

And the bishops are too busy closing churches, shutting down Masses, liturgically abusing congregations and opposing quality religious education programs, to care.
 
Our church is very old, but does its best to accomodate handicapped people. We have a front pew for the handicapped. We are renovating the school next door, which is the church meeting hall, to be wheelchair accessible. Meanwhile, if anyone needs to get up the stairs, many parishioners are willing to carry up person plus wheelchair.
We are changing as fast as we have funds, but money is tight right now. We are not a wealthy parish.
 
Several years ago, I served on a committee which was formed to deal with this topic and learned a lot, some good and some bad.

Our church and parish hall are fairly new and are handicapped accessible. The obvious requirements of the law were met, but the architects did not go any further. We have since done a few things to make things better for our brethren with disabilities but some accommodation by them is still necessary.

The first two rows of pews are cut back so that a casket can be turned around. These cutbacks also accommodate wheelchairs. We have gotten a signer for one mass each weekend and have installed earphones to assist those who are hard of hearing or deaf.

The ushers try to reserve a few spots in various places for certain people according to their preferences. The cry room is seldom used at the 8:00 mass and is available to anyone who needs to collect their thoughts.

We obviously have not been able to make all things available to all people all the time but have done what we felt was reasonable and pracitcal. The church, hall and rectory are built at the top of a hill. The play and picnic areas are behind those, can be difficult to get to and we haven’t come up with any solution on those areas yet.

On a sour note, at one of the deanery committee meetings, we had the state advocate attend to share her wisdom. I was standing outside when she arrived and saw she was having trouble getting her wheelchair out of the car. When I offered to help, she cursed me out (literally), and the tone of the meeting was set. We were all stupid insensitive clods and everything had to be done her way or not at all. So much for outside help.

We are still working to improve things. I have shared what we have done and would like to hear about what some of the rest of you are working on or have completed.
 
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geezerbob:
On a sour note, at one of the deanery committee meetings, we had the state advocate attend to share her wisdom. I was standing outside when she arrived and saw she was having trouble getting her wheelchair out of the car. When I offered to help, she cursed me out (literally), and the tone of the meeting was set. We were all stupid insensitive clods and everything had to be done her way or not at all. So much for outside help.

We are still working to improve things. I have shared what we have done and would like to hear about what some of the rest of you are working on or have completed.
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Bob, I guess this woman is living proof no good deed goes unpunished. How utterly disgraceful. It sounds like your parish has done a great deal to accommodate disabilities and apparently that wasn’t enough. I think your parish is exemplary and I wouldn’t take this female (won’t call her a lady) too seriously. Was she from a state disabled advocate office?

Lisa N
 
Lisa N:
Bob, I guess this woman is living proof no good deed goes unpunished. How utterly disgraceful. It sounds like your parish has done a great deal to accommodate disabilities and apparently that wasn’t enough. I think your parish is exemplary and I wouldn’t take this female (won’t call her a lady) too seriously. Was she from a state disabled advocate office?

Lisa N
Click to expand...
Yes, state office. Being less than twenty miles from the capitol, we always get the big guns. Fortunately, she left right after lunch so we could get down to business. Needless to say, I did not offer any assistance as she was leaving. The meeting ended up being pretty good. She was as abrasive to those in attendance who had disabilities as she was to those who didn’t. There were several people there who had birth defects and they were most helpful in detailing what we should do. As a side note, most of them were from a closed community that had a lot of marriages between close kin. Make that all marriages - no outsiders allowed. They also have their own parish and have built the church to suit their needs.

We seldom have direct contact outside the parish on anything after that near disaster. We have enough doctors, lawyers, builders, etc., that, if we come up short in an area, somebody will do the research and present it without involving anyone outside the parish.
 
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