Cathedral opens a door for people with disabilities

Friday, Sep. 04, 2015

SALT LAKE CITY — To help welcome parishioners and strangers alike, over the past several months the Cathedral of the Madeleine has installed an automatic door, received new headphones for the FM assistive listening device system, and developed a method for distributing low-gluten hosts. 

“For me, one of the most important things of any church, but especially the Cathedral, is to be welcoming, and part of this is to make it easy for people to … participate in the liturgy,” said Father Martin Diaz, pastor. 

The new door, which opens at the push of a button, replaced a heavy wooden door leading in from the plaza. It has been welcomed by many of those who attend Mass at the Cathedral, including Bruce and Dolores Anthony. Dolores Anthony is in a wheelchair, and now “it’s less stress on me to have to get her out and through the door, and I don’t have to hold it open. It’s fantastic,” said Bruce Anthony. 

Similarly, Virginia Malm appreciates the cathedrals’ new listening devices. “I have hearing aids, but they don’t always help. I can hear people but I don’t know what they’re saying,” she said. 

The first time she tried the TDD “I was just utterly amazed,” Malm said. “I could hear every word so clear. … I could hear the words of the cantor and when Father spoke I could hear the words he was saying.”  

Fr. Diaz blessed the new door to the cathedral on July 30, just days after the 25th anniversary of the enactment of the federal Americans with Disabilities Act. Carol Ruddell, a member of the Diocese of Salt Lake City Persons with Disabilities Commission who also sits on the board of directors for the National Catholic Partnership on Disability, believes that the ways in which the Cathedral parish has become more accessible to people with disabilities are symbolic as well as practical.

“The Cathedral is a symbol of the diocese, it’s a symbol of our unified faith in Utah, and so having it be accessible – to me that’s a very strong message to send; I think it’s a message of expectation,” said Ruddell, adding that she has seen many parishes in the diocese become more welcoming to people with disabilities over the past 25 years.

“I hear fewer parents say ‘I was handed a book to teach my kid [RCIA at home].’ I’ve seen new buildings and remodels that are ADA [compliant.] I’ve seen more people who are blind as lectors. I’ve seen more people in wheelchairs as Eucharistic ministers,” she said. 

All of these changes reflect the Church’s teachings, Ruddell said. “If we’re Catholic, we’re called to participate, but we’re also called to serve, so how do we help other people serve?”

The easiest way to help people with disabilities is simply to offer, said Cheryl Heyborne, who has been the organist at Christ the King Parish in Cedar City for 20 years even though, because she is legally blind, she has to memorize the music before she can play it.

“The best advice that I can give to anybody who is trying to assist any person is to ask what they can do to help or if they need help, and not be offended if they say ‘no,’ because maybe they have a way to cope,” said Heyborne.

With those like herself who are visually impaired, “identifying yourself to make people feel welcome would be a big help to people,” she said. “One thing that blind people might be able to use is offers to rides to church or to activities. If it weren’t that I have a support system here, I couldn’t get to here, because I live too far away.” 

One of the most frequent questions the diocesan Persons with Disabilities Commission receives is from parents seeking religious education for their children, Ruddell said.

This issue is faced regularly at Saint Mary of the Assumption Parish in Park City, where over the past few years a girl with Down syndrome and a boy with autism have both received all their Sacraments of Initiation, said Sandy Foley, the parish’s director of Youth Faith Formation.

“It is important that parishioners and the greater community share their gifts and support families with children who have disabilities,” said Foley.

For example, parish teenagers in the peer tutoring program helped the girl throughout her preparation for the sacraments, Foley said, and several adults with expertise in working with children with special needs also provided expertise.

“It takes working with the families to understand the challenges they face and seek solutions that are in the best interest of the child,” Foley said. “When we focus on solutions, the Holy Spirit works through all of us to work out all the details.”

To celebrate the gifts of people with disabilities, the diocese will offer two Catholics Can Masses. The first will be Oct. 4, 10 a.m. Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish, 5415 South 4360 West in Kearns. The other will be Oct. 18, 9 a.m. at Christ the King Parish, 690 Cove Drive, Cedar City.

Everyone is welcome to attend these celebrations. For information, call Carol Ruddell at 801-440-8729.

Religious education and sacramental preparation in American Sign Language for Deaf children will begin Sept. 13 at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church in Holladay. For information, call Mari McCord at 801-527-2037.