Last April, we attended an illuminating seminar on inclusive catechesis, organized by the National Catechetical Office's department for catechesis of disabled persons, held in Assisi. Sister Veronica Amata Donatello, who organized the seminar alongside Father Paolo Sartor, opened the proceedings by emphasizing a crucial shift: from prejudice to welcome, from closed doors to a community that truly receives. The reflection, as Sister Veronica never tires of repeating, concerns the entire community. "There is no inclusive catechesis," she insists, "unless it is carried out by a community in which each person is a protagonist and in which the gifts of each are valued and put at the service of all—in which each person can give to others." We must move from "I care" to "we care."
Father Giulio Michelini, offering biblical catechesis, stressed "God's choice, which has always been inclusive." He revealed to us that Isaiah, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and many other biblical figures were disabled in some way—some limping, some stammering, some fragile—yet God made them protagonists of salvation. Jesus himself, true God and true man, took upon himself our infirmities and sufferings through his Passion, lived what disabled persons experience in their bodies. "The crucified Christ was touched in the flesh as disabled persons are touched."
José Tolentino Mendonça pointed out that our culture suppresses our full sensitivity, developing only the distant senses: sight and hearing. Disabled persons, by contrast, are masters of the senses of nearness—smell and touch—which demand closeness, the presence of another.
During the evening, we participated in sensory workshops where we experienced, for instance, approaching sacred art through touch. The Vatican Museums had made available three-dimensional reproductions of artworks used in programs for the blind.
Parishes must turn toward the vulnerable in their territories, allowing all to discover that they are loved by Jesus, that Jesus is each person's friend.
Rita Dinale and Alessandra Ruggieri, 2018