THE CHURCH AS A PLACE OF WELCOME- DISABILITIES ARE NOT DISQUALIFIERS.............

As the Papal Nuncio to the United States, Apostolic Delegate Archbishop Vigano told the November Meeting of the United States Conference of Bishops, (USCCB) in Baltimore, Maryland; last week - the Catholic Church in the United States must become More Welcoming.  The Church must open wide the doors of Faith, Worship, Sacraments, Fellowship, and Ministry, to all who are baptized or seek to be included in the Body of Christ and the Community of Believers the Risen Jesus founded here on Earth.  That means in the words of the 1978 U.S.C.C.B. Pastoral Letter on Persons Wit Disabilities, "There is No Separate Church for the Disabled".  We are all One, and the 14 million Disabled Catholics in the USA are also One with us.  As one of those persons, physically disabled from birth the Church was the one place in my childhood where welcome, acceptance, inclusion, was unconditional.  I chose to become a Priest of Jesus Christ for the Diocese of Sacramento in part, because of my positive, good faith, experiences of welcome and opportunity.  Unfortunately, I cannot say the same thing now, after more than 20 Months of being sidelined and marginalized due to my disability and involuntarily exiled into a retirement community where I do not belong.  My diabetes, transplant, and amputation, do not disqualify me from carrying out my ordained ministry as a priest, only insensitive, unenlightened, or ignorant attitudes about Accessibility and the Inclusion of those of us who are Disabled Catholic Christians does.  As strongly as I feel about the unfairness and injustice I am enduring, I feel even more strongly for others who are disabled or discriminated against because of their physical, intellectual, or development impairments.  The Dignity of the Human Person, Catholic Christian Charity and Social Justice, and Gospel Values steeped in Loving God and Loving One Another, are our birthright and our baptismal obligation in doing what is right and just - for you and me, and for all.  To achieve that anew in my own life I proceed to actively identify and retain an independent living apartment so as to resume a more normal, age appropriate, life and priestly ministry experience in the general community well outside the inappropriate, unacceptable, geriatric setting I continue to be wasting away and warehoused in.  Lord Jesus Hear My Prayer For All The Disabled in the Church, Our Nation, and Around The World.............Reverend Father Troy David Powers