WCR This Week

CNS PHOTO | PAUL HARING Pope Francis greets a child during an audience with people who have autism Nov. 22.

If every Catholic is supposed to go to Mass on Sunday, Pope Francis wants every one of them to be well and truly welcomed when they get there – including the ones who randomly shout, rock back and forth in the pew, moan or unexpectedly laugh.

Every family with an autistic child needs to feel at home in church, Pope Francis told 700 participants at a three-day conference Nov. 21-23 on autism organized by the Pontifical Council for Health Care Ministry in Rome.

"Everyone should be committed to promoting acceptance, encounter and solidarity through concrete support and by encouraging renewed hope," said the pope.

Such steps will contribute to overcoming "the isolation and, in many cases, the stigma to which people with autism spectrum disorders are also subjected – and often their families too," he said.

Linda Ward, a volunteer at St. Brigid's Parish in Toronto, was in the audience and couldn't have been more grateful to the pope for putting his finger on the problem.

"The pope is very, very concerned about his sheep," said the Special Olympics coach who runs a free gym night Monday evenings at St. Brigid Catholic School in Toronto's east end.

SURPRISED TO BE INVITED

Ward was surprised to find herself an invited guest among research scientists, professors, doctors and other professionals at the Vatican. But she discovered that her volunteer-led, free program backed by Special Olympics Ontario was a rare thing.

CATHOLIC REGISTER PHOTO | MICHAEL SWAN Linda Ward gives Alessia Mussol a boost at the end of a night of Special Olympics activities at St. Brigid's Catholic School.

"Most autistic therapy is hugely expensive, to the point where the parents have mortgaged their houses and parents have two and three jobs and everything else," she said. "What we're doing is free, and we're getting results."

Parents and teachers report observable, concrete improvement among autistic children who participate in the weekly Special Olympics training nights, Ward said.

"What these guys (scientists at the Vatican conference) were saying, I have experienced," said Ward. "For me it was a huge affirmation that this is good, this is needed and I'm on the right track."

The great thing about Ward's Special Olympics program at St. Brigid's is that it's doing exactly what the Catholic community talks about – involving parish, school and family in helping to raise a child, said Susan Menary, Toronto Catholic District School Board chief of autistic programs.

PARTNERSHIP

"The partnership between the parish and the school is, I think, a wonderful example," Menary told The Catholic Register.

The St. Brigid's program covers all kinds of intellectual disabilities from autism to Down syndrome, said Menary.

Among the experts Ward met in Rome was Jan Benton, executive director of the National Catholic Partnership on Disability from Washington, D.C. Benton's organization was set up by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops 30 years ago and finds itself more and more focused on the exploding autistic population.

At the Vatican conference, Benton said the entire parish benefits when it accepts and serves its autistic members.

"When the parishioner with autism is seen as a valued member of the community rather than a problem to be solved, the entire parish is blessed and experiences anew the infinite love of God," she said.

"Families need support. They need to know people are there for them and there are opportunities available to them. For a parish to open up, that means they're saying, 'You are an important part of our community; we want you here.'"