International Day of Persons with Disabilities

"Dear brothers and sisters!

As we celebrate your International Day, I would like to speak directly to all of you who live with any condition of disability, to tell you that the Church loves you and needs each of you for the fulfilment of her mission at the service of the Gospel." Read a message of the Holy Father for the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, 2021.

Did you know?

The Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life at the Vatican was tasked with supporting persons with disabilities in the Church? This Dicastery was established by Pope Francis in 2016 “to advance the vocation and mission of the lay faithful in the Church and in the world.”

For this reason, they are celebrating the International Day of Persons with Disabilities by encouraging persons with disabilities to share a story about their gifts with the hashtag #IamChurch.”

It is the goal of this Dicastery to foster an awareness of “shared responsibility for the life and mission of the Church” by virtue of the Sacrament of Baptism. Share a post with #IamChurch during the month of December to encourage all of the faithful to share their charisms with the Church.

Learn more here.

Pope Francis, in his message to persons with disabilities on the occasion of the International Day dedicated to them, wrote:

Baptism makes each one of us a fully-fledged member of the ecclesial community and gives each one, without exclusion or discrimination, the possibility of exclaiming, "I am Church!" The Church, indeed, is your home! We, all together, are Church because Jesus has chosen to be our friend.

Echoing these words, the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life is launching the #IamChurch campaign: 5 videos in which persons with disabilities, from different parts of the world, recount their experience of faith and affirm, "I am Church!"

In his recent Message on the occasion of the International Day dedicated to the disabled persons, Pope Francis affirms that "no one can refuse the Sacraments to people with disabilities," thereby responding to the question that Serena, a young Italian woman, asks him in the video-testimony that we are publishing today.

This is the first video of the #IamChurch series: a campaign aimed at giving voice to persons with disabilities, who contribute daily to the life of every church community.

"All of you have the opportunity to transform your life, to know God!" It's a call that comes from four young deaf brothers from Mexico who, in the second video of the #IamChurch series, online as of today, December 13, talk about their experience communicating the Gospel within the deaf community in their country.

In his Message addressed to persons with disabilities on the occasion of the International Day dedicated to them, Pope Francis reminds us - citing Gaudete et Exsultate - that we all have a universal call to holiness.

In the third video of the #IamChurch series, some sisters from the Congregation of Petites Sœurs Disciples de l'Agneau tell about their religious vocation and talk about their daily lives.