Evangelist N5 #2

AUGUST 25, 2011Volume LXXXV • Number 40

www.evangelist.org

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ANSWERING SOS

T H E O F F I C I A L P U B L I C A T I O N O F T H E D I O C E S E O F A L B A N Y

A college student spends a year in Haiti — andinspires local children in the process: Page 20

Guide to Mass ChangesCut out this handy guide to new responses at Mass comingup when changes are implemented in November: Page 3

AL ABERICO SHARES a cookie offered by granddaughter Addy during a sweet moment at a parish picnic for St.Joseph’s in Fort Edward and St. Mary’s/St. Paul’s in Hudson Falls. For more photos, see page 11. (Nate Whitchurchphoto)

SHARING WITH GRANDPA

BY ANGELA CAVES T A F F W R I T E R

When Sacred Heart parish inLake George began renovatingits worship space two summersago, architects made it a prioritythat the new space accommo-date Catholics with physical dis-abilities.

Previously, users of wheel-chairs, walkers or canes sat inthe overflow area of the oldchurch — a 137-year-old struc-ture that, despite its beauty, hadnarrow doorways and aisles.

Today, half a dozen “pew cuts”in the new church — sectionsremoved from pews — accom-modate wheelchairs. A ramp

behind the altar wall and a low,wide ambo (pulpit) make accessto the altar possible for all volun-teers and staff.

Bathrooms feature handi-capped-accessible stalls andsinks. Mass-goers with hearingloss can grab one of six hearingdevices that connect to thechurch’s PA system and adjustthe volume of the Mass to theircomfort level.

It has made a difference in theparish community, which wel-comes more than 1,200 touriststo Masses in the summer.

“There are people who arecoming here now because of theaccessibility,” said Rev. Thomas

Berardi, pastor. The Albany diocesan Archi-

tecture and Building Commis-sion requires that church reno-vations or new church construc-tion comply with the standardsof the Americans with Disabili-ties Act (ADA) of 1990 — payingparticular attention to altarramps because of aging priests.

“We are proactive in makingsure that all the churches actual-ly comply — not so muchbecause of the law, which hasraised our consciousness, butbecause of the Gospel,” said Rev.Richard Vosko, a Sundaypresider at St. Vincent de Paulparish in Albany and a noted

liturgical designer since1970.

However, religious or-ganizations with fewerthan 15 employees(about 98 percent of U.S.congregations in 2006,according to the Associ-ation of Religion DataArchives) are exemptfrom parts of the ADA, and allreligious organizations areexempt from the requirementthat new construction and reno-vations be accessible to personswith disabilities.

“When people from othercountries come here and see thepoor state of our religious build-

ings, they say, ‘It’s not like that inSpain; it’s not like that in Italy,’”Father Vosko remarked.

Law or no law, he added,Catholic communities have a

ACCESSIBILITY

Opening doors, aisles and altarsto Catholics with disabilities

OPENING DOORS, AISLES AND ALTARS,SEE PAGE 13

(ANGELA CAVE PHOTO)

BY PATRICIA ZAPORC A T H O L I C N E W S S E R V I C E

Washington — Quantifyingthe costs of the 9/11 terroristattacks on the United States islike trying to get your handsaround the ocean.

Some costs can be tangiblymeasured in human lives lost,number of injuries, dollars spentand jobs changed or lost. Theycan be tallied in numbers of peo-ple who have fled their homesfor safer lands or the amount ofgovernment funding diverted toor away from certain programs.

Then there are the intangi-bles: human rights in the U.S.and abroad that were weakenedor ignored in the interest ofsecurity; the moral standing of anation diminished by the acts ofwaging preventative war orengaging in torture; the loss ofpeople’s sense of well-being and

peace; the suspicion with whichsome people now view Muslimsor Arabs.

Even facts one might expectto be easy to measure — howmany people have been killed inthe wars in Iraq and Afghan-istan, for instance — are difficultto nail down.

A website called http://icasu-alties.org keeps fairly up-to-datefigures of U.S. and coalitiondeaths for the two wars, includ-ing government contractors. Asof mid-August, it had a count of4,792 U.S. and coalition militarydeaths in Iraq and 2,672 inAfghanistan.

But, as pointed out in a com-prehensive report, “Costs ofWar,” published by BrownUniversity’s Watson Institute for

A DECADE LATER

THE COST OF 9/11

THE COST OF 9/11, SEE PAGE 8

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special responsibility to peoplein the pews who need extra help:“It’s a question of justice fromour Catholic perspective.”

Though many diocesan par-ishes have become compliantafter renovations, some find costor the structure of their currentbuildings hard to handle.

Father Vosko said that manychurches are still not barrier-freeto persons with disabilities. Hecalled for increased attention tolighting, acoustics and even thematerials used in worshipspaces, since Mass-goers cantrip on a high-pile carpet or aslippery tile floor.

Also on Father Vosko’s wish-list are Braille lettering on hym-nals, elevators and toilets; cabi-nets and choir rehearsal racksplaced at heights accessible toeveryone; and adjustable-heightpulpits.

Congregants using mobilityaids shouldn’t have to sit in theback or side of a church, he said.A mother shouldn’t have toenter through a church’s sidedoor on her daughter’s weddingday.

But heeding all of these sug-gestions can get “very compli-cated and it can get very expen-sive,” Father Vosko said.

Old, new againThe renovations to Sacred

Heart Church cost a total of$1.55 million. Accessibility fea-

tures had been worked into thebudget.

“I think it costs more if you’refixing an existing building thatdoesn’t have” accessible features,Father Berardi noted.

The altar ramp at Sacred Heartwas built at the same time as thenew altar; the PA system costunder $1,000. The church also hasabout 100 moveable seats and 50chairs with arms, which are pop-ular among senior citizens.

After St. Michael the Arch-angel Church in Troy burneddown in the late 1970s, the com-munity moved and built a newsanctuary. Accessibility was apriority at the time, even beforelegislation was introduced, saidSister Katherine Arseneau, CSJ,parish life director.

The Troy church and all lateradditions to it have been built onone level. An altar ramp espe-cially came in handy last yearwhile the sacramental ministerrecovered from hip replacementsurgery, Sister Kate told TheEvangelist.

St. Joseph’s Church in Scotia,which will turn 100 in 2021, wasrenovated in 1993 and nowincludes ramps into the church,behind the altar and over tomeeting spaces, said Rev. PeterRusso, pastor. The “children’schapel” and parish hall also haveramps.

In Mohawk, the entrance andsanctuary area of the Church of

the Blessed Sacrament werebuilt on one level. The down-stairs social hall provides rampaccess.

Only so muchThe bathrooms are not acces-

sible.“I’d love to be able to put a

bathroom in, but there’s just noway we could do it,” lamentedSister Mary Jo Tallman, CSJ,parish life director. “You’d haveto blow out a stone wall. Wedon’t have the money to do that.”

St. Cecilia’s Church in Fondaoffers a chair lift inside the frontentrance and a ramp up the sideof the building, but people withdisabilities can’t manage with-out a helper.

“It is a difficulty,” said Rev.Patrick Gallagher, OFM Conv.,pastor. “I’m not quite sure whatwe could do without really radi-cal [changes]. We’ve given itsome thought now and then.”

He said construction or eleva-tor installation would be toomuch work for too few benefici-aries: Aging baby boomers are aminority at St. Cecilia’s.

If a person with physical limi-tations wanted to lector, FatherGallagher said, the church couldget a wireless microphone ornavigate the connecting step hecalls a “bridge” behind the altar.If the pastor, who’s 71, becameless mobile, a stair lift could beinstalled in the rectory.

Similarly, St. Vincent’s inAlbany provides microphonesto wheelchair users, said Rev.Leo O’Brien, retired pastor andsacramental minister there.

Father O’Brien has used awalker for three years and a canebefore that. He enters thechurch through an elevator, butneeds assistance onto the altar.

Compliments to ChurchStill, he said, “Catholic church-

es do a lot. I think we’re all doingquite well.”

Edward Matysiak, a eucharis-tic minister and usher at Christthe King parish in Westmere,Albany, has used a wheelchairfor 25 years and said he has noproblems at churches he visitsto speak about faith formation.

Sometimes, said parish anddiocesan staff, it comes down tobeing resourceful — both forpeople with disabilities and forthe people ministering to them.

“It’s a matter of opening yourmind, looking at the individual,”

said Rosemarie Tobin, diocesancatechetical consultant for peo-ple with developmental disabili-ties and special needs. “Be cre-ative. I think always more can bedone to make things accessible.”

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TOP, THE PARISH OFFICE entrance atSt. Vincent’s parish in Albany;above, a ramp into the Cathedral ofthe Immaculate Conception inAlbany. (Angela Cave photos)

Opening doors, aisles and altarsOPENING DOORS, AISLES AND ALTARS, FROM PAGE 1