Three-day National Catholic Disability Ministry Conference held in Salt Lake City

Friday, Aug. 15, 2025

SALT LAKE CITY — Advocates for people with disabilities from throughout the United States and Canada gathered Aug. 7-9 at the Hilton Salt Lake City Center for the National Catholic Disabilities Conference, sponsored by the National Catholic Partnership on Disability. The NCPD “works with dioceses, parishes, ministers, and the laity to advance the full and meaningful participation of persons with disabilities in the life of the Church and society,” according to the organization’s website.

The NCPD was founded by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in 1982. It is a nonprofit corporation “that represents and advocates for 15 million U.S. Catholics with disabilities,” its website states.

In his welcoming remarks at the conference, Bishop Oscar A. Solis noted that this was the fourth national Catholic conference that the diocese has hosted this year. The others were SEEK25, and those hosted by the National Association of Church Personnel Administrators and the National Association of Diaconate Directors.

The NCPD’s “conference theme is really focused on making parishes everyone’s home,” said Charleen Katra, the organization’s executive director. “That’s the goal … because even in the 21st century, that is still a challenge for some people with disabilities or diagnoses. So our goal is training and resources” for the national Church.

Katra came to Utah last year to speak to the diocesan Persons for Disabilities Commission and was so impressed with the Salt Lake area that she suggested that their national conference be held here. “It’s good for NCPD, like any organization, to get out and to get out and about, and because we’re a national resource we need to move around nationally,” she said. 

The conference included keynote speakers and breakout sessions that covered an array of topics, including “Deaf Ministry as an Integral Park of Parish or Diocesan Ministry,” “Dyslexia & Dysgraphia – What Catholic Educators Need to Know,” and “Faith for All: Building Inclusive Adult Faith Formation for Persons with IDD.”

The keynote speakers were Bishop Brendan Cahill of the Diocese of Victoria, Texas, who is an NCPD board member; Mary O’Meara, executive director for the Archdiocese of Washington’s Office for Deaf and Disability Ministries; and Jason Shanks, who shared his story of “raising a child with a rare genetic condition to enduring a life-threatening battle with COVID-19,” as the event program stated.

The conference concluded with a sensory-friendly Mass with Bishop Cahill presiding. Father John Evans, vicar general, concelebrated. Assisting were Deacon John Kranz, chancellor, and Deacon Lynn Johnson. Carol Ruddell, chairperson of the diocesan Persons with Disabilities Commission, provided American Sign Language interpretation.