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Church Access for Persons with Disabilities
Catholic Teachings, Practical Suggestions and Resources |
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This website is dedicated to providing Catholic teachings and suggestions to assist persons with disabilities to participate more fully in the Church. If you are from another religious tradition, this website is a way for us to share our beliefs about persons with disabilities.
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For information on our services and ministries in the Diocese of Cleveland, Ohio, Click Here
NEWS...
Disability Services & Ministries Newsletter May 2013 E-Newsletter
________________________________________ Faith & Sharing Retreat The Faith & Sharing Retreat will be June 27 – 30, 2013, at Ursuline College. The theme is “We Believe” and the speakers are Mary Bastedo and Fr. Jacques Pelletier. The cost is $160 for adults and $125 for children. Click here for a flyer... ___________________________ New Roman Missal Interpreter Training available online
Beginning on the first Sunday of Advent, our Church will begin using a new Roman Missal for our liturgies. Many of the words are changed and may be challenging to persons interpreting the liturgy for the Deaf. This past March, an online video training series was created by a national team of experienced Deaf persons, clergy, pastoral workers, and liturgical interpreters for reference and practice while preparing to interpret the new translation of the Roman Missal into American Sign Language for the Catholic Deaf Community. It is important to note that this is a working draft model and focuses on the Common parts of the Mass. In addition to serving as a training tool for Sign Language Interpreters, this project will also be a valuable resource for Deaf Adult Formation classes, Small Group discussion groups, and Religious Education classes for the Deaf, and more. For use with Sign Language Interpreters, this model is intended to communicate the concepts in the text through: Choice of appropriate ASL signs; Use of space; Directionality; Eye gaze; and Facial "expression" (affect/mood). Click here to view the demonstration. ___________________________________________________________________ Points of Interest on this Site!!! Guiding Principles & Strategies for Inclusion in the Liturgy of Catholics with Disabilities These guiding principles are provided for Pastors, Liturgists, Parish Advocates, Liturgy Planners, Designers, Architects, and all those who have a concern for the design of the worship space and the planning liturgical celebrations.
Moving from Inviting to Inclusion to Integration Many people believe that "inclusion" is the goal that churches should be achieving. This piece challenges that theory and urges us to consider "integration" as the goal! Ironically, the original U.S. Bishops' Statement on Disabilities (1978) used the word "integrate" before the word "inclusion" became the norm.
Pastor's Tip Sheet: Welcoming People with Disabilities (Adapted from the National Apostolate for Inclusion Ministry). NAfIM has developed a very practical one-page sheet of facts and appropriate pastoral responses for welcoming persons with disabilities. In addition, this page gives suggestions for a DRE to be more welcoming and how to make Liturgies more meaningful.
___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ Think Differently! Ministering "to" someone is a start... Ministering "with" someone is the goal! It is a matter of moving from "Inviting" to "Including" to "Integrating" When this happens a parish, a congregation, or a neighborhood is forever transformed and enhanced! ___________________________________________________________________ This website began as a project for a Doctorate of Ministry program at St. Mary's Graduate School of Theology. Click here to learn more about this project..
Your dedication and your caring enhance the Church's ability to welcome and integrate persons with different needs and different talents!
May God bless you!
Dennis C. McNulty, D, Min.
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Last Update to the website was June 07, 2013 Copyright © 2006 Dennis C. McNulty
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