Gangemi (Kairos Forum), “Limited opportunities for disabled people for sharing the faith”

“Unfortunately, opportunities for people with disabilities to share the faith and belong to a community are still limited.” This was said by Cristina Gangemi, director of the Kairos Forum and coordinator of the Livability Community Network, in her intervention this morning during the panel on Families and Parish; Supporting Families with Special Needs, at the World Meeting of Families, being held in Dublin. Speaking about disability in Catholic teaching, Gangemi said that “despite the rich Christian teaching with regard to the gift of life, disabled people and their families are still meeting with rejection, negativity, and experiencing loneliness and isolation.” She, then, evoked Amoris Laetitia, paragraph 47, which states that “people with disabilities are a gift for the family and an opportunity to grow in love, mutual aid and unity.” “When this opportunity becomes the joy of the Church, we will all be able to recognize and guarantee the quality and value of every human life, with its needs, its rights, and its opportunities,” added the director of the Kairos Forum. Finally, she recalled their experience of “working with the Pontifical Councils for Culture and for the New Evangelization to produce two wonderful, new, and positive publications. Both celebrate life and faith, in harmony with Amoris Laetitia, calling the Church to loving action.”