McGrath Institute to host online seminars to help inform new USCCB pastoral statement on disability and inclusion in the Church
The McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame has partnered with the National Catholic Partnership on Disability to offer six online educational seminars for Church leadership on disability and inclusion in the Church.
The series, “In Communion: Advancing the Full Participation of Persons with Disabilities in the Church,” has been created to help inform a new pastoral statement on people with disabilities being developed by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth.
Pastoral statements are teaching tools used by bishops to communicate official Church teachings on important issues.
The webinars, which are free and open to the public, will begin Thursday (March 7) from 3 to 4:30 p.m. EST. Future sessions will take place on March 14 and 21 and April 11, 18 and 25.
Convening a cross-disciplinary group of experts, including people with disabilities, theologians, clergy, lay people and professionals in the field, each session will explore foundational and aspirational concepts important to the pastoral statement and how to enhance the involvement of people with disabilities in the Church.
The seminars will also address the role of the Church in advocating for people with disabilities in society.
“One important goal is to help leaders understand what is required to welcome Church members who experience disability more fully into the life of the Church,” said Clare Kilbane, director of research and development for McGrath’s Digital Education Program. “We also plan to explore how methods of inclusion and intentional efforts to promote belonging can transform opportunities for relationship and faith development for all.”
Another emphasis of the seminars will be to equip the authoring committee with a robust understanding of the experiences of people with disabilities, Kilbane said, as well as a recognition of the many and varied barriers they face and an appreciation for the gifts they have to offer the Church.
“We will look at how, through the development of this new pastoral statement, the Church can welcome all members into greater communion and sharing of Divine love, and each individual into a deeper relationship with God,” she said.
The series will begin with an exploration of the impact pastoral statements have on the Church and larger society and an analysis of the existing pastoral statement written in 1978. Participants will also consider how the new statement might advance and deepen the past statement’s teachings.
Subsequent sessions will analyze the concept of disability in general and how it is uniquely experienced by individuals, outline a vision of “full participation” in Church life and explore what it takes to create a Church where all are not only welcome, but also supported in ways that enable full participation.
“Through these seminars, we hope to help Church leadership understand that when persons with disabilities are welcomed — and invited to participate in all aspects of Church life — the Body of Christ is more complete,” said Charleen Katra, executive director of the National Catholic Partnership on Disability.
Additional information and online registration are available here.
Contact: Carrie Gates, associate director of media relations, 574-631-4313, c.gates@nd.edu
Latest Faith
- Con todo el corazón (With all our heart)Coro Primavera celebrates Latino community on campus Enter the Basilica of the Sacred Heart during the 3:30 Sunday Mass, and you’ll hear a choir singing the tunes of the same church songs you remember—except the lyrics are in Spanish. Or you may hear some different melodies that bring new…
- de Nicola Center presents 24th annual Fall Conference, ‘Ever Ancient, Ever New: On Catholic Imagination’More than 1,200 scholars, students and guests from around the world will attend the de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture’s 24th annual Fall Conference, “Ever Ancient, Ever New: On Catholic Imagination.” The conference features more than 175 papers, panels and performances across three days of conversation on the enduring and inexhaustible nature of the Catholic imagination.
- Sister Draru Mary Cecilia, LSMIG, receives Notre Dame Award for Outstanding Contributions to Catholic EducationThe Notre Dame Award for Outstanding Contributions to Catholic Education, awarded by the Alliance for Catholic Education, honors those who have made generous, lifetime commitments to sustain and strengthen Catholic schools. As executive director of the African Sisters Education Collaborative, Sister Draru oversees the education for Catholic sisters in 10 African countries. She has spent much of her life working to expand women’s education in Uganda and elsewhere on the African continent.
- Notre Dame Forum to present ‘Fr. TED Talks’ on Catholic social tradition, featuring President Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C., and Dr. Jim O’ConnellHonoring the legacy of legendary University of Notre Dame President Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., the 2024-25 Notre Dame Forum will host “Fr. TED Talks: Ideas from the Catholic Social Tradition That We Find Inspiring,” a two-night festival on Oct. 28 and 29.
- Notre Dame receives Lilly Endowment grant to support development of faith-based frameworks for AI ethicsThe University of Notre Dame has been awarded a $539,000 grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. to support Faith-Based Frameworks for AI Ethics, a one-year planning project that will engage and build a network of leaders in higher education, technology and a diverse array of faith-based communities focused on developing faith-based ethical frameworks and applying them to emerging debates around artificial general intelligence.
- de Nicola Center to award 2025 Evangelium Vitae Medal to Anthony and Phyllis LauingerThe de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture will award the 2025 Notre Dame Evangelium Vitae Medal — awarded to heroes of the pro-life movement — to Anthony J. and Phyllis W. Lauinger of Tulsa, Oklahoma, at a Mass and dinner on May 3, 2025, at the University of Notre Dame.