Opening Doors for Those with Disabilities

By Linda Busetti

Friends in the front pews said “hello” to each other without a sound before the Annual Diocesan Mass for Persons with Disabilities at St. James Cathedral, Downtown Brooklyn, on Sunday, Oct. 14.

The Mass, celebrated by Auxiliary Bishop Ignatius Catanello, was sign-language interpreted for the deaf, who filled the first six rows, and orally described for the blind by Brother Joe Moloney, OSF.

Linda Busetti Photos 

FATHER JAMES BRADLEY above, coordinator of Catholic Charities’ Disabilities Services in the diocese, greets people after the Annual Mass for Persons with Disabilities at St. James Cathedral-Basilica, Downtown Brooklyn. People with impaired hearing, below, sat in the front pews and signed the Mass and hymns along with a sign-language interpreter. The Mass was also orally interpreted for the blind. Three attendees who use wheelchairs, left, brought up the gifts to Bishop Ignatius Catanello during the Offertory Procession

Father James Bradley, coordinator of Disabilities Services of Catholic Charities for the diocese, preceded Bishop Catanello in the procession into St. James.

In his homily on the Gospel story about 10 lepers cured by Jesus, Bishop Catanello noted that only one returned to thank Him. Then Jesus told that man his sins were forgiven. “What really matters is what happens to his eternal soul,” Bishop Catanello said. The bishop said that illness is a mystery we cannot understand.

“Why? I don’t know, but I do know this. If we take what God has given us and nail it to the cross, something spectacular happens. Not just to us but everyone around us,” he said.

The bishop recalled what the nuns had told him when he was a boy, “Offer it up,” and quoted Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen’s teaching that pain and suffering “has the power to redeem.”

At the conclusion of Mass, awards were presented to parishes and parish advocates for people with disabilities that have worked to include persons with disabilities in the full life of a parish.

Sister Bernadette Downes, CIJ, has been parish advocate for people with disabilities at St. James Cathedral-Basilica, Downtown Brooklyn, for more than 10 years.

She credits now-retired Bishop Thomas V. Daily for raising awareness in his 1991 Pastoral Letter, “The Church’s Response to Disabled Persons.”

“The mission of the Church is to enable all persons to draw closer to God by the proclamation of Christ and His Gospel,” Bishop Daily wrote.

He instructed parishes in the diocese to “remove all the unnecessary physical and attitudinal barriers that seem to isolate any person from God.” This included making the liturgy and physical church accessible to everyone. The bishop’s Guidelines for Accessibility called for each parish to have an advocate whose primary parish ministry would be to persons with disabilities.

Parish advocates for people with disabilities accepted awards on behalf of their parishes at the Annual Mass for Persons with Disabilities at St. James Cathedral-Basilica on Oct. 14. Auxiliary Bishop Ignatius Catanello presented certificates to, from top, Sarah Musolino and Anna Pascale of St. Columba, Marine Park; Debbie Horan of St. Camillus, Rockaway Park; Beverly Smith and Father James Cunningham, administrator of St. Gertrude, Far Rockaway; and Mary Ellen Carroll and Father John Wtulich, parochial vicar at St. Francis de Sales, Belle Harbor. Individual parishes and Queens South Cluster Three were honored for their efforts to include people with disabilities in the life of the parish.
Sister Bernadette says that while Father James Devlin was rector of St. James, a ramp was installed and a sign-language interpreter added to the liturgy. She points out that the “easy-swing, power-assisted entrance doors” make entering easier for all people who are unsteady on their feet.

The cathedral also has available for the hard of hearing earpieces, which eliminate extraneous sound and allow the user to hear the voice amplified by the microphone at the pulpit.

Richard Vann-LaRusso has been parish advocate at Our Lady Help of Christians, Midwood, for about a year and a half. Vann-LaRusso, who is visually impaired, has been working professionally as coordinator for an agency that deals with developmentally disabled adults.

As a new resident of O.L.H.C., Vann-LaRusso looked for ways to be part of the parish. He asked the music minister to provide him with “enlarged copies of hymns” so that he could participate in the liturgy. The music minister was very accommodating, he says. This went so well that this past January Vann-LaRusso joined the parish choir.

He said O.L.H.C. has installed a ramp outside the church building, a wheelchair lift on the outside of the parish hall, and accessible toilets in the church and parish hall; improved the church sound system and lighting; and for many years has hosted introductory workshops for parish advocates for persons with disabilities.

It is not only people with disabilities who need assistance, he points out. “People at different times in their lives have challenges,” he said, for example, the elderly. “The Church is there to be supportive, to make the experience of coming to church more comfortable.”
Joyce Mennona, director of religious education at Resurrection-Ascension, Rego Park, inherited the role of parish advocate after the previous advocate retired. A team of parishioners oversees making their church accessible.

Many older parishioners use wheelchairs, canes, or walkers or are blind, Mennona said. “Very bright white stripes outline the church steps” to make them more visible for the elderly and people with disabilities, she explained. The parish installed a permanent ramp outside the church building; provided a marked accessible path to and installed two accessible toilets in Father Feeley Hall, where they have hosted the Queens introductory workshops for parish advocates for persons with disabilities.

The parish is considering installing a railing from the main church to the Blessed Sacrament Chapel.

The parish also reaches out to young people with disabilities including one little girl about nine years old, who is deaf. Sister Rosemary Gaffney, D.W., provided religious instruction for the little girl and served as a sign-language interpreter when she made her First Holy Communion.

Anna Pascale and Sarah Musolino serve as parish advocates at St. Columba, Marine Park. Their ministry has included making sure bathrooms are accessible and encouraging “the disabled to come to Mass.” She said sometimes it can be “hard to find the people who may need us.”

The parish has installed a permanent ramp outside the church building and an accessible toilet in the parish hall; and makes facilities available for meetings of the Advisory Committee for parish advocates for persons with disabilities.

Beverly Smith, who is parish advocate at St. Gertrude’s, Far Rockaway, understands the challenge of living with a disability. For about a year and a half she used a wheelchair, but is back on her feet now.

When the former parish advocate retired, Smith thought, “Maybe this is something I can do.” The late Father Brendan Downing, pastor, accepted her offer of help two years ago.

While she used a wheelchair, Smith watched Mass on TV and a extraordinary minister of Holy Communion came to her home, but it wasn’t the same. “You like to get dressed up and see people,” she said. “Being separated from people is depressing.”

Smith, a native of the island of Jamaica, says she has “a mind for enjoyment and family,” and since her family does not live close by, “church is family.”

St. Gertrude’s has installed a permanent ramp outside the church building; arranged the church nave in “choir style” so the sanctuary is on floor-level and accessible to all liturgical ministers; improved the church sound system; created a parish center which is accessible both from the church building and by a ramp from outside; and installed accessible toilets.

St. Gertrude’s sponsors an annual Disability Awareness Mass for the Cluster.

The Queens South Cluster was also honored. Each parish in the Cluster has at least one parish advocate for persons with disabilities, who meet regularly to plan Cluster initiatives.

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Parish Advocates and Parishes Honored

At the Annual Mass for Persons with Disabilities at St. James-Cathedral Basilica on Oct. 14 certificates of excellence were presented to parishes and a Cluster that have improved the inclusion of persons with disabilities in the full life of parishes in the Diocese of Brooklyn and Queens.

This is a new initiative of the Disabilities Services of the Office of Pastoral Service of Catholic Charities. Some of the improvements have been made over several years and other are more recent.

The Disabilities Services Office intends to make this award granting an annual event.

Newly Trained Parish Advocates for Persons with Disabilities

Brooklyn

Blessed Sacrament, Cypress Hills: Martin Dempsey and Rose Marmo
Our Lady of Czestochowa-St.Casimir, Sunset Park: Oliva Guppy
St. Jude, Canarsie: Peter V. Siggia, Nina Siggia and Roselie Rodgers
St. Matthew, Crown Heights: Gwendolyn Harding
St. Thomas Aquinas, Flatlands: Linda Spinella and Joanna Delfino

Queens

Blessed Virgin Mary Help of Christians,Woodside: Romina V. Clemente, Janet Rivera and Merylin L. Evangelista
St. Gertrude, Far Rockaway: Beverly Smith and Hazeron Mohammed Jardine.

Parishes Receiving Awards for Inclusion

Brooklyn

The Cathedral-Basilica of St. James, Downtown Brooklyn
Our Lady Help of Christians, Midwood
St. Columba, Marine Park

Queens

Resurrection-Ascension, Rego Park
St. Gertrude, Far Rockaway

Cluster Receiving Award for Inclusion

Queens South Cluster Three:
St. Mary Star of the Sea, Far Rockaway
St. Rose of Lima, Rockaway Beach
St. Camillus, Rockaway Park
St. Francis de Sales, Belle Harbor
St. Genevieve, Rockaway Point
St. Thomas More-St. Edmund, Breezy Point
St. Vigilius, Broad Channel
St. Gertrude, Far Rockaway

The Disabilities Services Office is administered by Father James Bradley. For information on training of parish advocates for persons with disabilities or making your parish facilities more accessible to persons with disabilities, contact Father Bradley at 718-229-8001 ext. 441.

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