In the 1978 Pastoral Statement of the U.S. Catholic Bishops on Persons with Disabilities, the bishops declared, “If persons with disabilities are to become equal partners in the Christian community, injustices must be eliminated and ignorance and apathy replaced by increased sensitivity and warm acceptance.”
In 2026, there is still work to be done to eliminate injustice and ignorance. Louann Kelly described her son’s experience: “When he turned 21 and a half, he left school, and it is incredible how suddenly the activities go away. They lose their friends. They never see them again. Their social life becomes extremely limited.”
Kelly’s son is Catholic but has struggled to find his place in the life of the parish. Hope abounds, however, in a group Kelly started with Carleen Jensen at St. Katharine Drexel Parish in Mechanicsburg. SOUL — Support, Optimism, Understanding and Love — has begun to rectify the difficulties people with disabilities face as they strive to become full, supported members of their parish communities.
Kelly contacted Tom Jenkins, St. Katharine Drexel’s parish manager, about starting a faith-based ministry for adults with disabilities. Jenkins connected Kelly with Jensen, the parish’s outreach coordinator, and the two met over lunch to discuss a framework for the ministry. Agreeing that each event needed a theme and a structured format, they began planning in November 2025, and by March 2026 — after reaching out to parishes across the Cumberland Deanery — SOUL held its first gathering.
The theme for that first event was “We Are Family,” and the evening followed the agreed-upon structure: icebreaker, discussion and conversation, craft time, games and dancing, snack time, socialization and music, and a closing thought.
“We thought we would introduce [their] own family” as an example, Jensen explained, and then connect their families to “the Church [as] the larger family.”
The theme and lesson perfectly reflect Pope Francis’ directive, as reported by Catholic News Service’s Cindy Wooden, that the Church ensures “people with disabilities are welcomed, integrated, recognized and supported as full members of the community.”
No longer should people with disabilities be relegated to the doorstep. They should have a place in their parish home. Jensen and Kelly feel certain that more families will want to be involved because of the promise of inclusion SOUL offers — though some challenges must be addressed to ensure this unique, faith-based ministry succeeds.
The first get-together drew about a dozen men and women. One requirement of the ministry is that parents remain in attendance. “These individuals can be known to have some health challenges; some of them have behavioral issues or emotional issues,” Kelly said. “So, we want people that know their loved one to stay with them.”
With that support system and structure in place, the initial events have been a great success. Individual personalities were evident, Kelly noted: “I felt that they were all outgoing enough to make that connection with each other. And they were very supportive of each other. Some are far more social than others. We had two who sat together at a table and didn’t want to get up and participate in anything, initially. And then we had ones that were ready to run the whole thing.”
To build community and foster a safe, loving environment where members feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and feelings, Jensen and Kelly have agreed to cap attendance at St. Katharine Drexel at 30 to 40 people. Limiting the numbers will protect the efficacy of the program and create an opportunity for growth: if interest continues to build, the ministry can expand to other parts of the diocese, bringing greater opportunities for inclusion and participation.
Kelly and Jensen hope the ministry will one day grow to include the liturgy. “It’s challenging to bring individuals [with disabilities] to Mass because they can be loud, they can be disruptive. I think there should be a separate Mass opportunity, periodically, that they’re invited to — and this might be the way to reach out to them: come join our social group,” Kelly offered.
There are many hopes for the future, but for now, Jensen said, “We decided that we wanted to keep it small in the beginning, since we weren’t exactly sure what we were going to run into, how it was going to go, how it was going to be accepted. So, [we decided] to start out small, and then we’ll build on it.”
Let us invoke the prayers of St. Joseph of Cupertino, patron saint of those with developmental and intellectual disabilities, for the success of SOUL as it moves the Diocese of Harrisburg toward more understanding and charitable inclusion of our brothers and sisters with disabilities.
To inquire about volunteering, joining or supporting SOUL, contact Carleen (CJ) Jensen at St. Katharine Drexel Parish, 1 Peter Drive, Mechanicsburg, PA 17050, 717-697-8716, ext. 226; or cjensen@skdparish.com.
(Shutterstock photo.)
By Laura Loose, The Catholic Witness
