Bishop Paul Hendricks attended the Jubilee of People With Disabilities in Rome, which was celebrated on 28-29 April. Here he offers his reflection on “this joyful pilgrimage”.
Throughout this Jubilee Year, there have been certain weeks when different groups of people have been invited to come to Rome, to celebrate their ‘Pilgrimage of Hope’ with the Holy Father. I’d heard that there was a special event for people with disabilities – or, as we prefer to say, different abilities. This might sound like ‘political correctness’, but it’s important to celebrate people’s unique abilities as well as making the Church as welcoming as possible to people who have difficulties of one sort or another.
I was happy to share in this joyful pilgrimage. Diary permitting, I take part in monthly online prayer meetings which bring together some of the people of varying abilities, who took part in a conference called ‘Living Fully’, in Rome in 2016. The great thing about that conference, and about our Jubilee pilgrimage, is that everyone was able to make their own particular contribution.
One example of this was the way we celebrated Sunday Mass on our first full day. During the morning, there were group workshops relating, in turn, to the Penitential Rite and to the readings. These used discussion, reflection and drama, to enter more fully into the meaning they have for each of us. Then, in the afternoon, everyone came together for the Gospel and the remainder of the Mass. I think it was probably the best example of the ‘full, active and conscious participation’ in the Mass, which the Second Vatican Council set as the standard to be aimed for.
Another example was the participation of members of the Catholic Deaf Association – most of whom I’ve known and worked with for many years. Watching an expert sign-language interpreter is always a revelation. The body language as well as the signing, adds further depth and insight to the prayers and readings.
I really valued the opportunity to get to know the members of the group, over a period of days. It meant I was able to discover people’s personalities and circumstances, in a way that I wouldn’t have been able to do at a single day event. Some of our group told us they had met Pope Francis at a General Audience a year or so ago. One of them is quite impulsive and he started up a bout of ‘shadow boxing’ with the Pope, who spontaneously entered into the spirit of the encounter and responded in kind. It was a lovely moment for everyone at the time, and for the rest of us to hear about, now.
One really impressive character was from a French-speaking group that came with us. As a result of an accident, he has been a wheelchair user for the past twenty years. This hasn’t stopped him being very active, and he plays wheelchair rugby to a high standard. He’s also planning a parachute jump, as part of a campaign to raise awareness that people with disabilities can do more than they or others might imagine.
One of the characteristics of pilgrimage, is that it is a journey we make together – a journey of faith and a journey of discovery. As we went through the Holy Door into St Peter’s, and as we took part in an international Mass at St Paul’s Outside the Walls, and as we heard testimonies from families in St Peter’s Square, we experienced the worldwide dimension of the Church. We learned a lot from each other, and we each came away having learned something about ourselves, too.
