| 6.THE CALL
TO ALL IN THE CHURCH
TO SACRAMENTAL LIFE
"The purpose of the sacraments is to sanctify men, to
build up the body of Christ, and, finally, to give worship
to God. Because they are signs they also instruct. They not
only presuppose faith, but by words and objects they also
nourish, strengthen and express it." (Vat. II, Constitution
on the Sacred Liturgy, No. 59) SACRAMENTAL LIFE:
Disabled persons are entitled to as full a share as possible
in the Sacramental life of the Church. Every effort should
be made by parents, guardians, priests, religious, catechists
and the whole Christian community to give disabled persons
the opportunities and supports they require to participate
in the Sacramental life of the Church in accordance with
their faith, their abilities and personal vocation, so
that they might be drawn into ever more perfect union
with God and other members of the Church and thus contribute
to the building up of the Body of Christ.
BAPTISM:
It is through Baptism that people are initiated into membership
of the Church. Profoundly intellectually disabled adults and
all disabled infants are entitled to baptism.
Like parents of able-bodied children, parents of disabled
infants and of older profoundly intellectually disabled
persons should make appropriate preparation for their son’s
or daughter’s reception of the Sacrament of Baptism,
bearing in mind the custom of the local Church.
Like able-bodied people, disabled persons who are mentally
alert should make appropriate preparation for the reception
of the Sacrament of Baptism, again bearing in mind the custom
of the local Church.
In accordance with the directions of “Introduction to
Rite of Baptism of Children”, No. 8 and “Instruction
on Infant Baptism”, Sacred Congregation of the Doctrine
of Faith, No. 28, where there is no evidence of faith in the
family and where the one to be baptised is not mentally alert,
there can be grounds for delaying Baptism until further contact
gives the parents/guardians some understanding of the true
meaning of this Sacrament. CONFIRMATION:
Confirmation is the second stage of Christian initiation;
it establishes Christians as witnesses to the world. Just
as with Baptism, disabled persons, like able-bodied people,
are entitled to this second stage of Christian initiation;
they, too, are capable of giving significant Christian witness.
Like baptised able-bodied people, baptised disabled persons
(including children) who are mentally alert, should receive
appropriate instructions and make fitting preparation for
Confirmation in accordance with the custom of the local Church.
For baptised intellectually disabled persons those instructions
and the preparation should be suitably modified, even to the
point of no instruction and no preparation. EUCHARIST:
The Eucharist is the supreme sign of unity with Christ and
his Church. Into this holy unity is gathered the unity of
disabled persons with their families and the unity within
the family is consecrated when the family come together to
receive Jesus in the Eucharist. (cf. "All People Together",
Roman Catholic Bishops of England and Wales).
It should be recognised that, for a
variety of reasons, some disabled persons are unable to receive
the Eucharist under the form of bread. Such persons could,
where possible, receive this Sacrament solely under the form
of wine.
This Sacrament is so sacred that it must never be diminished
or reduced by thoughtless reception. Therefore, disabled persons
who are mentally alert, along with able-bodied people, should
receive appropriate instructions and make fitting preparation
for their first reception of the Eucharist.
Where intellectually disabled persons
are concerned, every effort should be made to help them develop
an explicit faith before their first reception of the Eucharist
—mindful of the fact that the level of understanding
and appreciation of this Sacrament will vary considerably
according to the extent of the disability. It may be desirable
on some occasions for the priest or special minister to allow
a family member to give Communion to a profoundly intellectually
disabled person, to ensure that the Eucharist is properly
received. This could also be seen as a sign of the family’s
unity with one another, with Christ, and with his Church (cf. “The Gospel Call”, Most Rev. Sir Launcelot Goody.)
Intellectually disabled persons, even
where it is thought that there is no intellectual activity,
should be welcomed to the Eucharist when such a person is
part of a family or community imbued with faith. When such
persons are already children of God by faith and Baptism they,
along with all other baptised people, are invited to come
together “to praise God in the midst of his Church,
to take part in the Sacrifice and to eat the Lord's Supper”.
(Vat. II, Constitution of the Sacred Liturgy, No. 10). The
Eucharist may be given to such persons provided they are accompanied
by other family members or persons of faith with whom they
are closely associated. This would give witness to the love
of Christ and of the Church for such persons, it would support
the family in its acceptance and loving care of their disabled
family member, and it would demonstrate the total and unconditional
acceptance of the whole family by Christ and the Church.
Like all other people, intellectually
disabled persons should not be pressured into receiving this
Sacrament.
ACCESS TO THE PARISH LITURGY:
Disabled persons should be encouraged to take part in Parish
liturgies. Parish communities should demonstrate their
acceptance of them by providing suitable transport, a
no-step entrance to the Church, (e.g. with a ramp with
a 1 in 12 slope and hand-rails), suitable seating, accessible
toilets, heating and cooling devices, earphones, ‘audio-loop’,
‘signed’ liturgies, overhead projection of hymns
and responses, large print and braille Mass books and hymnals.
Disabled persons should be given opportunities to be readers,
special ministers of Communion, gift-bearers, members
of the choir, where this is fitting and practicable, i.e.
after due consideration of the flow
of the particular liturgy, the needs of the worshipping
community and the sensitivities of the disabled persons
and their families. Special liturgical celebrations should
be planned for particular groups of disabled persons, e.g.
deaf people and intellectually disabled persons, who have
great difficulty in participating in a meaningful way in
regular parish liturgies.
House-bound people, particularly those with explicit faith
and an appreciation of the Sacrament of the Eucharist, should
"be given every opportunities to receive the Eucharist frequently
and even daily if possible." (The Rite of Anointing
and Pastoral Care of the Sick, No. 46). Where practicable,
those who desire it should be offered this at least every
Sunday (perhaps drawing on the service of ‘Special
Ministers’)
thus giving them a sense of participating in the parish celebration
of the Eucharist and of being part of the Sunday Eucharistic
community. This should complement the very valuable,
important and regular practices of priests in the ministry
of word and sacrament to these people.
RECONCILIATION:
Reconciliation is the Sacrament where the sinner encounters
in a special way the merciful love of the Father.
Disabled
persons, along with able-bodied people are entitled to
hear the invitation to repentance and to hear the good
news that their sins are forgiven.
Along with able-bodied people, disabled persons (including
children) who are mentally alert, are required to participate
in appropriate preparation for the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
In addition to that, they should be encouraged to participate
in that Sacrament periodically, in both individual and
communal celebrations. It should
not be automatically assumed that intellectually disabled persons are incapable of wilful fault. In fact, it
should be recognised that many of these people have an
intuitive ability to understand right and wrong and to
be sorry when they have done wrong. They might need help
by appropriate questioning by the priest to make a confession
and, with appropriate help, they may be able to express
sorrow verbally or through some gesture or facial expression.
Like able-bodied
people, disabled persons must manifest sorrow when participating
in this Sacrament but, particularly for those with serious
communication limitations (e.g. grave speech or hearing
impairments and language difficulty) sorrow may be expressed
in ways other than speech that would be adequate for the
reception of this Sacrament.
Some intellectually
disabled persons can develop some sense of right or wrong,
without a real sense of sin and without moral culpability
in God’s eyes. It is good for such persons to admit
to a priest, in a one-to-one relationship, that they
have done bad things and good things. Appropriate questioning
by the priest would assist them to do this. Encouragement
by the priest to avoid the bad and cultivate the good
(God is interested in good as well as bad), followed
by a laying on of hands and a simple blessing would complete
a meaningful celebration for them and would contribute
to their personal growth.
All intellectually
disabled persons, in so far as they are members of the
human race, share in ‘sinfulness’ in the communal
sense. Therefore, it seems appropriate that at times there
could be a simple communal celebration of reconciliation. Severely disabled
persons and those unable to express sorrow in any way could
be included.
Celebrating
the Sacrament of Reconciliation could be embarrassing
for disabled persons who are mentally alert when special
arrangements for them must be made. That embarrassment
could make them reluctant to make their special needs
known. Celebrating this Sacrament could also be a frustrating
experience for those with serious communication limitations
(e.g. those with grave hearing and speech impairments,
and language difficulty).
The Sacrament
of Reconciliation should be readily available to house-bound
people and to disabled persons who have difficulty in
getting to their parish church and/or into Reconciliation
rooms and to those who find the nominated times suitable
for the majority of parishioners impracticable.
SPIRITUAL HELP:
In addition to the Sacraments of Eucharist and Reconciliation,
special spiritual nourishment should be available to house-bound
people, e.g. through an archdiocesan and/or parish publication,
cassette tapes, ‘talking books’.
ANOINTING OF THE SICK:
The Anointing of the Sick "gives the grace of the Holy
Spirit to those who are sick; by this grace the whole person
is helped and saved, sustained by trust in God, and strengthened
against the temptations of the Evil One and against anxiety
over death. Thus the sick person is able not only to bear
suffering bravely, but also to fight against it." (Pastoral
Care of the Sick No. 6 — ICEL, 1982)
It is a sacrament for those who are
seriously sick. "A prudent or reasonably sure judgment,
without scruple, is sufficient for deciding the seriousness
of an illness." (Ibid No. 8). The priest, as part of
his pastoral responsibility of preparing and helping the sick,
and of celebrating the sacrament, should assist the sick person
in deciding whether it is appropriate for the sacrament to
be celebrated, and if so, when.
All disabled persons who are sick should
have the same complete access to this sacrament as other people
who are sick. It may be that some disabled persons, by reason
of their disability alone, “need the special help of
God’s grace in this time of anxiety, lest they be broken
in spirit and, under the pressure of temptation, perhaps weakened
in their faith.” (Ibid. No. 5.).
Rather than anointing a person at regular intervals, “the
Sacrament may be repeated after the sick person recovers
after being anointed and then again falls ill or if during the
same illness the person's condition becomes serious.” (Ibid.
No. 9.). The anointing of the sick is a sacrament
of faith. “The sick person will be saved by personal
faith and the faith of the Church.” (Ibid. No. 7). “Sick
children (and also intellectually disabled persons who
are sick) may be anointed if they have sufficient use
of reason to be strengthened by this sacrament.” (Ibid.
No. 12.) It also seems fitting to anoint sick people without
the use of reason when they are accompanied by other members
of their family who are people of faith. That would express
the concern which the Lord himself showed for the bodily
and spiritual welfare of sick people and which he asked
his followers also to show. It might, however, be more
appropriate to express this concern in forms of liturgy
other than the sacrament of anointing.
Whether the
anointing of the sick is celebrated for a single sick
person in the home, or for a larger group of sick people
in the church, it is always a communal event: that is,
it expresses the love and support of the whole community
for the sick person. When one member suffers in the body
of Christ, which is the church, all members suffer with
that member. (cf. 1 Cor. 12:26) Together with the family
and friends of the sick, where it is possible, disabled
persons should be encouraged to have a special share in
the ministry of comforting the sick, since by their experience
of suffering, they may have a special understanding of
the situation of the sick person, and may be able to give
clearer witness to the meaning and value of sickness for
their own salvation and that of the world.
HOLY ORDERS
AND RELIGIOUS LIFE:
Ministry is the activity of the Church as it is carried out
by all members of the Church at every level and, under the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit, enabling it to carry on
the mission of Jesus Christ to the world. Ordained ministry
sets people aside to proclaim the Gospel, and the source
and summit of that preaching is the celebration of the Eucharist.
Religious
are people who consecrate themselves in a special way
to God’s
service by vows of poverty, chastity and obedience.
Like
some able-bodied persons, some disabled persons are suitable
candidates for the Sacrament of Holy Orders and some are
suitable candidates for the Religious Life. However, it
should be understood that certain disabilities will always
exclude people from entering the priesthood and/or religious
life, but the ultimate decision must rest with the local
Bishop or Major Religious Superior. MARRIAGE:
The Sacrament of Marriage is the ongoing relationship between
a Christian man and woman through their promise, freely given,
to bind themselves to each other for life to the exclusion
of all others.
It is the commitment of each to the other to share their lives,
to meet their mutual needs, to deepen their love for each
other and, through their continuing relationship, to deepen
their love of God and of other people.
Like many able-bodied adults many disabled adults are suited
for the Sacrament of marriage. They enter marriage to build
a happy lasting relationship on the hope that they will love
and honour each other through the whole of their married lives.
Some people who are able to marry will
not marry because they do not fall in love with someone
who returns that love. It is also true that for some people
an intellectual or physical disability will exclude the
possibility of a marriage relationship.
There are many pressures in society that can make disabled
people profoundly unhappy. It should be recognised that
marriage is a permanent relationship and that a marriage
entered into imprudently can bring untold suffering to a
couple who cannot sustain the relationship. UNMARRIED LAITY:
Like some able-bodied people, some disabled persons are called
to a life of celibacy as lay persons in the Church. Such
persons emphasise the uniqueness, the specialness, of
every human being. They are called to give witness to
Christ's love of all people, to serve anyone and everyone,
in accordance with their particular talents (including
their suffering) in the celibate state.
The particular condition of some disabled
persons, like that of some able-bodied people, means that
they must remain unmarried. Even if their particular condition
gave them little or no opportunity to reflect on that way
of life before the found themselves in it permanently, or
at least indefinitely, it does not preclude all freedom
of choice. There still remains the freedom to choose to accept
or reject the condition and the resultant way of life.
See also the final part of the Archdiocese
of Brisbane Sacramental
Policy.
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