Disabilities advocate in Oregon sees progress in past 25 years

Published: 2003-12-09

PORTLAND, Ore. (CNS) -- About 10 years ago at St. Philip Benizi Parish in Redland, 7-year-old Jeff Mitchell almost missed out on receiving first Communion with his peers. Parish leaders thought that Jeff, who has Down syndrome, simply could not understand the Eucharist. But Jeff's mother, distraught at the decision, called Dorothy Coughlin at the Archdiocese of Portland's Office for People with Disabilities. Coughlin set up a meeting with the pastor, Jeff and his mother. Hoping to avert outbursts or bothersome behavior, the mother had bought Jeff a bag of chips and sweets. But as the meeting began, Jeff tore open his bags and spread the eats out on the table. The perplexed mother asked what he was doing. Jeff explained that he wanted to share the snacks with everyone as they talked over important church matters. Receiving Communion, he then added, would mean having Jesus in his heart. "It was so profound what he was doing," Coughlin recalled in an interview with the Catholic Sentinel, newspaper of the Portland Archdiocese. She said the story illustrates how people with disabilities have a gift of openness and vulnerability that may well be a saving grace for the church.

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