Religious freedom is a fundamental right of every human person, no matter how severe their handicap.
This truth, which has never ceased to be true, has been affirmed repeatedly by Pope John Paul II—and he knows what he is speaking of better than most.
As Christians, we have a binding duty to ensure that our handicapped children can live the Christian life in all its fullness: religious education and religious practice to the measure of their abilities.
That measure—I can say this after thirty years of catechetical work with handicapped children, adolescents, and adults, some severely handicapped—that measure is far greater than most imagine.
And the sign that Jesus himself gave to the messengers sent by John the Baptist, who came asking, "Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect another?"—was precisely this: "Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them" (Mt. 11:2-6). This same characteristic sign of his divine mission Jesus proclaimed in the synagogue at Nazareth (Lk. 4:16), citing the prophet Isaiah (61:1).
«As Christians we have the duty to ensure that our children with handicaps can live the Christian life»
It is the Church's task today to bring this mission of Christ to fulfillment.
But the Church of today is us—priests, religious, and lay people alike, beginning with those most directly involved: parents and friends of the handicapped themselves.
—Read other articles on catechesis and disability
We must therefore pursue this with courage and resolve, tirelessly, and demand from the competent authorities—local, regional, national, secular or religious—beginning with ourselves, that our children receive genuine religious formation, that they be admitted to the sacramental life of the Church, that they be able to participate in worship and receive in their parish community the welcome they deserve. And let us remember: in defending these rights for our children, we defend also the rights of other children whose parents may lack the means to fight for them, and those with no parents or advocates to speak for them before authorities so often indifferent to their needs and even less inclined to educate them in this way.
— Henri Bissonier, 1988
Also read: How to Provide Religious Education