I am grateful to Mother Doreen who found this story. It is not so often that Catholic audiences so publicly take a feather out of the Anglican cap, but in this one instance it seemed very much the right thing to do. Catholic Deacon Mark Paine was hugely impressed with the Archbishop of Canterbury’s address to the General Synod about affirming neurodiversity and felt it deserved a wider hearing beyond the Church of England.
As he points out, “her message was a simple but profound one. Neurodivergent people are not simply to be accommodated or included; they have gifts that the Church needs. Their experience can deepen our understanding of discipleship, community and the God who creates each person in his image”. His conclusion: this is “a timely reminder for Catholics”.
The picture he painted was one that is also shared by Anglicans, that neurodivergent people often find parish life “exhausting rather than welcoming. They speak of sensory overload at Mass, misunderstandings about behaviour, inaccessible sacramental preparation, or assumptions that there is only one “right” way to participate in worship”. And his big take-away from Archbishop Sarah was that “rather than asking how neurodivergent people can fit into our existing structures, perhaps we should ask how our parishes and dioceses can better recognise and receive the gifts that neurodivergent people already bring”.
“The wider challenge”, he says, “is one of culture. We need to move beyond seeing neurodivergent people as recipients of pastoral care and recognise them as contributors to the Church’s mission.”
This is very current for us here at St George’s because our Chaplaincy Council has jsut signed off on an ‘Inclusion, Dignity and Belonging’ Policy which we are now introducing.
Read this very worthwhile article in Independent Catholic News, here. Find the new St George’s ‘Inclusion, Dignity and Belonging’ Policy here.