The head of disability outreach for the Italian Bishops’ Conference, Sr. Veronica Donatello, opens the conference, “We: Pilgrims of Hope,” the first event of the Jubilee of Persons with Disabilities.
By Federico Piana
Joy, hope, tears, smiles: These were just some of the emotions on display in the conference hall of the “Augustinianum” Congress Centre in Rome, which was packed to capacity with people with disabilities and their caregivers, as well as the heads of numerous charities.
They had come together to give life to a conference entitled “We: Pilgrims of hope,” organised by the Italian Bishops’ Conference (CEI), which officially opened the Jubilee of Persons with Disabilities.
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.
The legacy of Pope Francis
Earlier, opening the work of the conference, Sr. Veronica Donatello, head of disability outreach for the Italian Bishops, recalled how this 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.”
One step further
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, Monsignor Lucio Ruiz, secretary of the Holy See’s Dicastery for Communication, emphasised that “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.