More than inclusion: How Catholics are renewing disability ministry

CNA Staff, Aug 7, 2025 / 16:19 pm (CNA).

There’s a category of Catholics in the United States who are often underserved, and one Catholic ministry is trying to remedy that.

Catholics with disabilities experience unique and varied needs that go beyond wheelchair ramps or braille signs. A Catholic with autism might need sensory-friendly liturgies; a Catholic with a developmental disability might need special guidance for catechesis.

But many parishes might not know how to meet their needs or what those needs even are.

By offering a variety of resources — including a conference this weekend — the National Catholic Partnership on Disability (NCPD) is teaching parishes how to fully integrate people with disabilities into parish life.

“From the rise in mental health concerns to the growing number of families navigating autism, parishes across the country are searching for guidance, training, and connection,” NCPD Executive Director Charleen Katra told CNA.

Ignorance can be damaging. Katra said she frequently receives calls from Catholics with disabilities who are denied sacraments — a move that goes against the Church’s teaching.

The U.S. Catholic bishops in recent years have reaffirmed the Church’s teaching that “all forms of the liturgy be completely accessible to persons with disabilities.” The bishops explained that accessibility extends far beyond “physical alterations to parish buildings.”

“Persons with disabilities have the same baptismal rights to be educated in the faith, to celebrate sacraments, and to respond to God’s call,” Katra explained.

The good news: Catholics from across the United States want to get better at serving people with disabilities. Almost 200 Catholic ministers, leaders, and laypeople are gathering in Salt Lake City for the National Catholic Disability Ministry Conference from Aug. 7–9.

Designed to help parishes and ministries fully integrate people with disabilities into  parish life, the conference centers on the 2025 Jubilee theme, “Pilgrims of Hope.”

The goal? Every parish should feel like home.

Inclusion and belonging are “crucial,” but they are just the beginning, Katra explained.

“They open the door for something greater and more important — advancing the full participation of persons with disabilities and striving toward communion — a kinship we experience because we are loved by God and saved by his son, Jesus Christ,” she explained. 

A highlight of the conference will be a panel of people with disabilities who will discuss what Katra called a “powerful message” by the late Pope Francis. 

In 2021, on the U.N.’s International Day of Persons with Disabilities, Pope Francis told people with disabilities: “The Church is truly your home.”

“Persons with disabilities are not simply on the outskirts of the Church seeking to be invited in,” Katra said. “Rather, the Church is already their home, and their presence and participation are integral to the Church community.”

Designed to “equip Catholics to value the gifts and respond to the needs of persons with disabilities,” conference sessions will address “mental health, autism, sacramental preparation, inclusive Catholic education, sensory-friendly liturgies, public policy, and more,” Katra said. On the last day of the conference, participants will gather for a sensory-friendly Mass.

Keynote speakers include Bishop Brendan Cahill of Victoria, Texas; Mary O’Meara, executive director of the Archdiocese of Washington’s Office of Deaf and Disabilities Ministry; and National Eucharistic Congress President Jason Shanks, who will share a personal testimony of raising a child with a rare genetic condition.

From clergy to catechists to people with disabilities, 180 attendees are gathering for the conference at Hilton Salt Lake City Center. This year, those who can’t attend in person may attend virtually in English or Spanish.

The ministry is not an annual event, but Katra has high hopes for the future.

“This is not currently a recurring event, but we hope it will become one,” she said.

Katra said she hopes the conference will give people a network, fresh perspectives, and “a deeper understanding of disability from a Catholic perspective,” as well as the latest resources and best practices for disability ministry.

“We are all pilgrims of hope — called to walk together in faith and love,” Katra said. “This includes persons with disabilities, whose presence and participation enrich the life of the Church.”

Source: https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/265849/more-than-inclusion-how-catholics-are-renewing-disability-ministry