Special gifts, special projects part of church ministry with disabled

Published: 2006-10-17

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- At the altar and on the stage, Catholics with disabilities are continuing to make unique contributions to church and society. And in response, Catholic individuals and organizations are offering special opportunities to those with physical or developmental disabilities and their families. Bobby Couture, a 36-year-old with a form of autism and some mental disabilities, said being an altar server at the vigil Mass every Saturday at St. Dominic Parish in Swansea, Mass., is one of his favorite things to do. Before he became an altar server five years ago, "I saw the boys up there and I really wanted to do it too," Couture said. "I wanted to help Father Joe." Father Joseph F. Viveiros, pastor of St. Dominic, encouraged Couture, who made his first Communion years ago, to receive confirmation before becoming an altar server and is always careful to brief the altar server about any changes in Mass protocol, said Couture's mother, Eileen. A special part of Bobby Couture's service is that his many friends in the parish -- disabled and not -- see him "exercising his right to witness to the faith," Father Viveiros told The Anchor, newspaper of the Diocese of Fall River, Mass.

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