David P. Rundle: Pope loves disabled

Pope Francis has fascinated me ever since the former Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio stood on St. Peter’s balcony after his election. (Full disclosure: I am Catholic.) His irrepressible joy, humility and obvious love of humanity make him my favorite living public person.

I am not expert enough to judge his theology or policies. But I have noticed one aspect of his papacy from which people of all faiths and even atheists and agnostics can learn.

Francis loves the disabled and wants them integrated in the church and society. He has made it clear that the disabled have a key place in his ministry. In doing so, he has followed a maxim of St. Francis of Assisi, who said, “Preach always and when necessary, use words.”

On the day of his installation as pope, Francis kissed a man with a disability in St. Peter’s Square. Also in the square but on another occasion, Francis kissed a man with growths all over his body. A family with a 9-year-old girl who couldn’t walk knew Francis would be traveling a road in rural Italy at a certain time. So they waited with her on the roadside with a sign asking the pontiff to stop and kiss the girl. He did.

Back in St. Peter’s one day, he saw a young man with Down syndrome. He let the youth ride around the square with him in the pope-mobile.

These spontaneous gestures could be viewed by cynics as media manipulation. Yet think how affirming they were to the receivers. Perhaps one or two felt for the first time their lives had worth, an idea I’ll come back to.

Besides these unplanned events, the pope has included several events on his schedule highlighting the disabled and their loved ones. Recently at a Mass, he washed the feet of three people with disabilities and one elderly person. He also had special Masses for people with disabilities and for families of people with autism.

Again, some people may not think these events actually help, but to be validated by a world leader has to be life-changing. How many people at these events have been mocked, abused and neglected in the past? And here was the pope saying, “I am a servant of God and you; we can serve each other.”

Even beyond the confines of church settings, the pope has shined the spotlight on the needs of the disabled. He recently participated in an online chat with several students with disabilities about the importance of getting an integrated education. Education is important to every child, and fully participating as much as one can in society is important to us all.

To be honest, Catholic schools have not always led the way in special education. But Francis may be trying to change that, like other things.

But again, this is about more than church policies and practices; it’s about the place of the disabled in society. No other leader has done so much to highlight it. This isn’t so much to Francis’ credit as it is to the discredit of other figures.

In America, the needs of the disabled seem to get little attention. President Obama has not given a major speech on disability issues, and Kansas legislators, by and large, shun the disabled. Gov. Sam Brownback hasn’t done much better.

Perhaps the pope’s example will move other leaders to reach out to the disabled. We can hope, pray and vote for that.

This story was originally published March 6, 2015 at 6:05 PM with the headline "David P. Rundle: Pope loves disabled."