CATECHESIS OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITY
Why this note…
On Thursday, 28th February, we made a visit to
the National Catechetical Centre of Italy, under the care of the Episcopal Conference
of Italy. Our objective was to have a meeting with Rev. Sr. Veronica Donatello,
Coordinator of the Sector for Catechesis of Persons with disabilities. I was
impressed with the perspectives presented by her, the most powerful of all
inspirations being the very person of the sister who spoke to us and her story
of having lived with her parents and sister who were persons with disabilities.
But what I intend to register here is not that impression but some challenges I
felt posed to me. I would like to look at the very same challenges that the resource
person presented to us as those of Episcopal Conference of Italy, applying it
to the process of catechesis in the context of my origin, India.
1. Formation of the Formators
In India, even at the national level, the consciousness or sensitivity
towards the persons with disability is very low and the Church in India is no
exception. It is important that the Church becomes aware of the fact of the exigencies
of these persons, who have every right to a dignified life as anyone else. The
ideal phase where this can be begun is the formation of the formators -
formators of the communities of faithful, formators of the future leaders of
the communities, formators of the catechists and educators to faith. What
should be aimed at as the goal of this initial process is a Change of
Mentality.
2. Change of Mentality
Prejudice and the attitude of taking persons for granted, are
the two tendencies that have to be tackled as harmful mentalities, within any
holistic process of progress. Looking at and relating with the persons with disability
as equals and readiness to include them in any social activity should be the
point of arrival to which every person should be challenged. I question myself
today, how I have not given a thought till now, to how I could possibly
catechise a person with disability.
3. Creating a World with no discriminations
Help and Assistance is not the solution we are looking for.
Neither are we looking for any solutions, because we are not dealing with
problems when we deal with the persons with disability. We are looking at
possibilites. We are looking at the ways in which we can make this world a
better place for all, without any exceptions, with equality and dignity as
criteria. Hence the target we have is the creation of a World without
descrimination, a world where every person can live to the full, where every
person can have every possibility of having their needs met, their dreams
fulfilled and their destinies reached.
To Conclude…
The Church as a community of faithful has a more pronounced
duty to ensure the fullness of life to all. Salvation in today's language
should be understood exactly in those terms, in terms of the fullness of life
that was promised by the Son of God. Catechesis as faith formation has to
enable a person to see the possibility of this fullness of life in his or her
life, and educate the person to achieve it in the way traced out in the
Gospels. Catechesis of the persons with disability becomes an important concern
in this regard and I am filled with embarrassment that my Church in India, or
my local Church has not paid enough attention to it so far. Thanks to the
visit, I realise an exigency to be addressed at the earliest as an intervention
towards establishing the Reign on earth.
