Jubilee of Persons with Disabilities opens in Rome

Source: Vatican Media

Thousands of people with disabilities and their caregivers, as well as the heads of numerous charities, are in Rome now for the Jubilee of Persons with Disabilities.

Sr Veronica Donatello, head of disability outreach for the Italian Bishops' Conference, opened the first event today with a conference at the packed Augustinianum Congress Centre, in Rome, entitled: 'We: Pilgrims of Hope.'

In her address Sr Veronica said the Jubilee was inspired by Pope Francis' legacy of encounter. "It is beautiful to see men and women of every language and nation coming together to give thanks to the Lord," she said. "In recent years, we've worked a lot on the culture of belonging: looking at the person with disabilities beyond their limitations."

Paralympic athletes BeBe Vio and Oney Tapia shared their stories with the audience, inspiring them to face every difficult situation with renewed impetus and without fear, knowing that, in the end, disability is an asset for the whole of society.

In a video message, Archbishop Giuseppe Baturi of Cagliari, secretary general of the Italian Bishops' Conference, explained that the Jubilee itself "invites us to take one step further towards the love that is God."

In his welcome address, Mgr Lucio Ruiz, secretary of the Holy See's Dicastery for Communication, said: "the entire Dicastery is committed to building inclusive communities, because the Church's true wealth lies in the bonds of faith, hope, and charity."

All the participants at the conference - which got into full swing with two roundtables, one moderated by Alessandro Gisotti, Deputy Editorial Director of the Dicastery for Communication, and the other focused on the challenges of science, technology, and ethics in relation to disability, moderated by journalist Paola Severini Melograni - concluded with a moving pilgrimage to the Holy Door of St Peter's Basilica.