Braga: “Getting involved to live better” is the motto of the II Reflection Days for People with Disabilities

Braga, April 27, 2024 (Ecclesia) – The Pastoral Care for People with Disabilities of the Archdiocese Braga promotes on May 11th, at 9:30 am, in the Vita Auditorium of that city, the II Reflection Days for People with Disabilities.

With the theme “Involvement for a better life”, the meeting aims to “demystify ideas and prejudices that sometimes hover around, burdening the lives of people who suffer from a certain condition”, informs the department of Pastoral Care for People with Disabilities of the Archdiocese of Braga .

According to the note sent to the ECCLESIA Agency, the initiative is aimed at “the entire community in general, people with or without disabilities, from young people to more experienced people, people linked or not to the Church, catechists, parish priests, among others ”.

The archbishop of Braga, D. José Cordeiro, and the national coordinator of the Disability Pastoral begin the meeting with the welcome and presentation, at 9:30 am.

The days of reflection will include the participation of the former Secretary of State for Inclusion, Ana Sofia Antunes, who at 10 am, in a plenary conference, will address “Resilience and integration of people with disabilities”.

The president of the Episcopal Commission for Social Pastoral will speak at the meeting at 11 am, followed by four workshops, in which “personalities who, in some way, have an experience with disability, will speak, leaving their testimony on how to deal with it and from a context and point of view of the Christian faith, taking into account its pillars and the challenges that the world brings us”, says the organization.

The moment will be led by Manuela Cunha, who addresses ‘Disability and Affectivity’ (Workshop 1), by Inês Dias Silva, who leads the theme “Disability and Spirituality” (Workshop 2), who will also be joined by Maria do Carmo Diniz who talks about ‘Disability and Ecclesial Integration’ (Workshop 3), and Manuela Oliveira who guides the moment on ‘Disability and accessibility in the Church’ (Workshop 4).

After lunch, the second major cultural moment of the day takes place, “where art will be expressed through music, dance and theater by special people from different institutions”, reveals the department of Pastoral Care for People with Disabilities of the Archdiocese of Braga .

The program ends with the Eucharist, presided over at 5pm by the Archbishop of Braga, D. José Cordeiro, in the Chapel of the Imaculada Conceição, in Espaço Vita.

The initiative is part of the activity plan of the Pastoral for People with Disabilities of Braga and “aims at interacting with the various disability support institutions, ecclesiastical and civil, working in the region of the archdiocese; and reflection on issues inherent to people with disabilities”.

“For the organization, the presence and collaboration of everyone is important, because, if we aspire to be a truly inclusive society, it is in moments of sharing, dialogue and reflection on life’s difficulties and joys like this, that it becomes possible to put ‘feet to path’, going towards the other. Disability is a condition that can happen to anyone”, highlights the note.

Registration for the II Reflection Days for People with Disabilities can be completed until May 5th using a form available online.

L.J.