Is there anyone there?

[anjelica]

LOL I will give you and bene the address and number of our Diocese. Only joking! But actually it would be good for them to inow hos different it is elsewhere!

 

[Anhelyna]

Even the little Church where we hold our Monthly, mainly English, Language Divine Liturgy , built in 1858 has 4 rather nasty steps up to the front door BUT it was rather expensively renovated a few years back - all pews taken out and very nice comfortable modern chairs with kneelers were put in. It now has 2 different ways in for disabled people and of course once inside there are no problems. It really is a lovely little Church - warm , feels friendly

 

[anjelica]

Yes, I have to say that it is not the same absolutely everywhere. But there is a lot to be desired in many Churches.

 

[Anhelyna]

I'll agree - our Church in Edinburgh is not good for access - there is absolutely no wheelchair access and it will be exceedingly difficult to actually make it - the structural work involved would put the cost into the prohibitive range

 

[Michie]

Michie, thankyou for your support. You are just so right, and that is exactly what we feel we are called to do. Be a catalyst for change. Don't know if we will be listened to or not. But ppl, including priests, have gotten away with this for too long. Mind you, I inow that there are goodparushes in other partsof the UK. ,we are a backwater where we live. You know, we feel guilty if we deaw attention to oyrslvesnor our needs, because we are meant to put up with it aspart of our cross.

Part of your cross is not a get out of jail free card for them to shirk their duties to the less fortunate in their parish.

 

[anjelica]

Oh and I well know that Michie. It makes me mad each time it is said.

 

[Michie]

Oh and I well know that Michie. It makes me mad each time it is said.

That Scripture I posted might come in handy when you are letting them know. Christianity can get messy and uncomfortable in real life. It is not just preached from a pulpit.

 

[anjelica]

At our old Church there was only one disabled parking lot for a congregation of four to six hundred. When it was put to thenparish padtoral council, the reply was that even uf they made more disabled spaces, there were not many dusabled ppl in the Church anyway. NOT TRUE. And ppl would get mad at us for getting that space because we arrived earlymon purpose because we cannot walk across the car park. They could walk but naybe had a stick (cane) or something. It was a scramble. Somemppl hated us. We also got told 'You can't always expect to be at the front" even though we were at the front because I cannot make my way down the aisle for Communion and the priest did not come to ys at the back, which was the only other place we could park our wheelchairs. We dudn't half get into some trouble LOL. Hubby got sick of it, and ge is very angry about it all. I think Fr calmed him down a bit this morning but still there will be no change. We are now to sit at the back on a weekend, where I am totally isolated. We have no place to go now, that is Catholic

 

[benedictaoo]

Can you get an attorney and sue? That's exactly what would be done here. Threaten the priest with legal action if that's something you can do.

 

[anjelica]

Can't be done here bene. You are so much stricter over there. Also, ppl here park in disabled spaces who are not disabled and there is no penalty for it. They find it quite funny. We are on with a dispute at the moment iver disabled parking in a shopping mall.

Wow, bene,nthe mind boggles at what you have jyst said, but no, it is not possible.

 

[Stabat Mater dolorosa]

Can you get an attorney and sue? That's exactly what would be done here. Threaten the priest with legal action if that's something you can do.

Or better yet threatening him with the hierarchy within the church.
Warn him that you're ready to take this all the way to Rome if you have to.

I can't see his actions be praised by the officials in Rome.

 

[benedictaoo]

Can't be done here bene. You are so much stricter over there. Also, ppl here park in disabled spaces who are not disabled and there is no penalty for it. They find it quite funny. We are on with a dispute at the moment iver disabled parking in a shopping mall.

Wow, bene,nthe mind boggles at what you have jyst said, but no, it is not possible.

We really do have laws against this kind of thing. The Church would have to be handicapped accessible by law. Sorry. Do you have a city hall you can call?

 

[anjelica]

Stabat, what a good idea. Rome. Yes.

Bene, no point in calling any city hall or anything. We have Councils for each town, but they are yseless. We tried that with Holy Souls, oue old Church. We did it over the doors being too narrow to get wheekchairs through. Designers of said doors said they had followed the Building Zregs (hubby knows the regs well) but in fact they hadn't. We dud manage to get all those four sets of double doors chaged, but they still didn't comply with regs because the second set was only three feet away from the furst set, meaning that once you had got past the first set, there was no room for a wheekchair in the pirchway, and you had to hang onto the furst set whist trying to open the second set, if that makes sense. The Church said it had no money to change it, and we jyst left, then. Now, we find THIZs oriblem, at Zst. Bernadettes. It is soul destroying and at a time in my lufe when I need peace, not stress, because of my heart rate, we are having to deal with all this.

 

[anjelica]

the hurt is really setting in again now. I feel desolate. Pushed asude. As if no one here in this town cares. I am going blind, can't see even my food on m y plate now, can't recognise people, trying to struggle on manfully, but no one truly cares. Grueving over what I am losing. Trying, despite all, to get the hispital to do something but they say nothing can be done, and the Church and Mass was what kept me going, through it all. Don't they WANT me to be able to have Jesus? Only able bidied ppl are allowed. Oh yes, we can sit on the periphery of the Church, isolated from everyone else. Usolated by my blibdness, and isolated from ppl also in the Mass. I so needed to be there, in order to be able to cope. Fr thinks it is ok to be on the periohery. It is ZnOT. I need ppl. I need to be part if ppl. I feel I can't cope any more becayse I have lost that which was keeping me going. I am lost. I want to say this to fr but why really, as uf he does not care anyway it will not change anything. Ppl dont know what it is like to be blind and in a wheelchair, and i doubt they even want to know either. So now, here i am, feeling sorry for mtself. You see, it was only Mass that was keeping me ficussed and firm. Now I have lost it. Sorry for being sorry for myself. Mit is jydt pure isolation

 

[Michie]

Angelica you have every right to mourn and feel sad. What is so sad is that the Church is shirking its duty to you. The Church should be there when all else fails.

the hurt is really setting in again now. I feel desolate. Pushed asude. As if no one here in this town cares. I am going blind, can't see even my food on m y plate now, can't recognise people, trying to struggle on manfully, but no one truly cares. Grueving over what I am losing. Trying, despite all, to get the hispital to do something but they say nothing can be done, and the Church and Mass was what kept me going, through it all. Don't they WANT me to be able to have Jesus? Only able bidied ppl are allowed. Oh yes, we can sit on the periphery of the Church, isolated from everyone else. Usolated by my blibdness, and isolated from ppl also in the Mass. I so needed to be there, in order to be able to cope. Fr thinks it is ok to be on the periohery. It is ZnOT. I need ppl. I need to be part if ppl. I feel I can't cope any more becayse I have lost that which was keeping me going. I am lost. I want to say this to fr but why really, as uf he does not care anyway it will not change anything. Ppl dont know what it is like to be blind and in a wheelchair, and i doubt they even want to know either. So now, here i am, feeling sorry for mtself. You see, it was only Mass that was keeping me ficussed and firm. Now I have lost it. Sorry for being sorry for myself. Mit is jydt pure isolation

 

[anjelica]

Michie, it hurts SO BAD. I try to be brave, and to not show my feelungs, and to keep cheerful. And that is real. Mit is not a face that I put on. ,but I do not show the other ibe, that us real too. I had come around to feeling quite at ease with the blindness by trying to luve in the oresent moment snd knowing zgod was in it. I had peace. Then the very next day, this happened and everything crumbled. And it was a PRIEST who did it. I have nowhere to go now. I can go to the Anglucan Zchurch where they are kind ppl,mbut my faith is Catholic. On Sunday, after this happened,I left the Church and went straight to the vucar of the Zanglucan Church, whom I have known for many years, and just cried. He is kind. But our faith is different. I am so lost.

 

[anjelica]

It is a bad night again. I cannot sleep. I feel like telling Fr how I feel. But he will just say it is as it is.

 

[Michie]

I pray God gives you guidance in this. I understand trying to look on the bright side of things and stuff your feelings but it really does not do any good. It is best to try not to cover for people that are doing wrong because it only reinforces and enables the bad behavior. I really despise the pat answer of carrying your cross because it comes off as uncompassionate and excuses those from helping out when they should. Are we going to tell starving people in Africa to just shut up and carry their cross too? The list of situations I could bring up goes on. It is not like you are asking for anything unreasonable, just someone to care and make you feel included. Not like you are an inconvenience. That is the Church's job afterall. Not just minding liturgical P's & Q's. You know, Pope Francis would be very unhappy knowing this was going on. What a horrid witness it gives.

Michie, it hurts SO BAD. I try to be brave, and to not show my feelungs, and to keep cheerful. And that is real. Mit is not a face that I put on. ,but I do not show the other ibe, that us real too. I had come around to feeling quite at ease with the blindness by trying to luve in the oresent moment snd knowing zgod was in it. I had peace. Then the very next day, this happened and everything crumbled. And it was a PRIEST who did it. I have nowhere to go now. I can go to the Anglucan Zchurch where they are kind ppl,mbut my faith is Catholic. On Sunday, after this happened,I left the Church and went straight to the vucar of the Zanglucan Church, whom I have known for many years, and just cried. He is kind. But our faith is different. I am so lost.

 

[anjelica]

This priest said God willed my abyse. I argued with him. He said something more and I saud I understood that, then zi said something else and he said 'You are not as advabced as I thought you ere. I thought you had got it." He meant he thought I had understood that zgid willed my mother's abuse and my husband's abuse. He told me God would not give me more than I could bear. Well I can't bear THIS. Is it REALLY that cruel? I don't understand him. How could he ever understand this uf he believes God wills abuse?

 

[Michie]

God expects us to be lights in a dark world. Not encourage the darkness. I am not terribly impressed with your priest.

This priest said God willed my abyse. I argued with him. He said something more and I saud I understood that, then zi said something else and he said 'You are not as advabced as I thought you ere. I thought you had got it." He meant he thought I had understood that zgid willed my mother's abuse and my husband's abuse. He told me God would not give me more than I could bear. Well I can't bear THIS. Is it REALLY that cruel? I don't understand him. How could he ever understand this uf he believes God wills abuse?