Updated
bab February 23, 2005

Youth with Disabilities: Resources for Ministry

The same Jesus who heard the cry for recognition from the people with disabilities of Judea and Samaria 2,000 years ago calls us, his followers, to embrace our responsibility to our own disabled brothers and sisters in the United States.

(Pastoral Statement of the U.S. Catholic Bishops on People with Disabilities, USCCB, 1978.)

Recent census figures show that about 1 in 5 Americans have some kind of disability, and 1 in 10 have a severe disability. Disability is no respecter of age, gender, race, or religion. There are millions of Catholic youth living in the United States with a disability, and millions more who are part of a support system for a family member with a disability.

No family is prepared for the birth of a child with a disability or the challenges of a disability that may develop by result of accident, age, or illness. Inclusion is perhaps biggest challenge these individuals and their families face. As they look for welcome and justice in society, the church stands in solidarity with them.

Because of this solidarity, the church continues to identify barriers, physical and attitudinal, that prevent persons with disabilities from participating in the full life of the Catholic faith community. Inclusion is more than a wheelchair ramp or special program; it is an attitude of welcome—a celebration of Gospel values—in the life of the church! A Catholic youth ministry serves all youth, regardless of ability or disability.

The Disability Task Group (of the NFCYM) has identified some online resources that can assist diocesan and parish youth ministry leaders in becoming more aware of this important issue. This web page includes the rich (and largely unknown) corpus of Catholic social teaching on persons with disabilities, links to diocesan and national Catholic ministries serving persons with disabilities, and links to various national organizations for persons with disabilities and their families.

Statements and Resources from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

• Pastoral Statement of the U.S. Catholic Bishops on People with Disabilities
• Guidelines for the Celebration of the Sacraments with Persons with Disabilities
• Welcome and Justice for Persons with Disabilities
• Adults with Cognitive Disabilities/ Mental Retardation: Approaches to Adult Faith Formation - A Resource and Idea Book
• USCCB Information on the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)

Statements from the Vatican

• The Person with Disabilities: The Image of God and a Place of His Wonders
• The Person with Disabilities: Privileged Witness of Humanity
• The Person with Disabilities: Subject - Active Agent in Ministry
• The Person with Disabilities: Subject - Receiver of Evangelization and Catechesis
• The Person with Disabilities: The Duties of the Civil and Ecclesial Community
• Jubilee of the Disabled:  Homily of Pope John Paul II
• Jubilee of the Disabled:  Angelus
• Jubilee of the Disabled:  Address of Pope John Paul II
• Conclusions of a Vatican Conference on the Family and Integration of the Disabled
• Address of the Holy Father to the Congress on Integration of Disabled Children
• Angelus, December 6, 2001
• Address of Pope John Paul II to the Members of the Christian Office for the Disabled
• Address of Pope John Paul II to the Faith and Light Movement

National Catholic Ministries with Persons with Disabilities

• National Catholic Partnership on Disability
• National Catholic Office for the Deaf
• National Apostolate for Inclusion Ministry
• Network of Inclusive Catholic Educators

Diocesan Ministries with Persons with Disabilities

• Archdiocese of Atlanta - Ministry with Persons with Disabilities
• Archdiocese of Boston - Deaf Catholic Community
• Archdiocese of Chicago - SPRED (Special Religious Development)
• Diocese of Pittsburgh - Department for Persons with Disabilities
• Diocese of San Antonio - Deaf Ministry
• Archdiocese of Washington - Center for Deaf Ministries