Autism Consecrated

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  • Autistic Men and the Priesthood: Welcoming Embrace or Grudging Tolerance?

    Anchorite

    by Father Mark P. Nolette

    Since many have undertaken to set down an orderly account of the events that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed on to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word, I too decided, after investigating everything carefully from the very first, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the truth concerning the things about which you have been instructed.

     Luke 1:1-4 (NRSV Catholic translation)

    Recent days have seen a strong interest among the autistic Catholic cybersphere on the topic of autistic men and the Catholic priesthood. This interest has been sparked by a reference to autism in a report published by the McGrath Institute for Church Life earlier this year called Do You Know Them to be Worthy? This led to an article in the National Catholic Register called Autism and the Priesthood: How the Church is Responding.This was soon followed by an article on the Word on Fire website by Mark Bradford called ’Strange Vocations’: A New and Welcomed Conversation About Priestly Eligibility.

    The initial reaction to each of these in the autistic Catholic cybersphere was largely negative, with some notable exceptions. What was more interesting was how some of the negative commentators soon “repented” of their critiques and pronounced these articles “very good” after all. Evening came, and morning followed… the eighth day. What is actually going on here? How should we – not only autistic Catholics, but all Catholics – understand these articles? It is worth noting that neither article, in referencing the McGrath report, looked at the autism issue in the context of the report itself. What was the report about? Why was autism mentioned there in the first place? How does this understanding color how we see the two subsequent articles?

    With these concerns in mind, I have endeavored (like St. Luke) to “investigating everything carefully from the very first”, in order that you, my dear readers, may come to know more fully the truth concerning all these things.  I shall look at the McGrath Report, the Register article and the Word on Fire article and then draw a few general conclusions from all of this.  I do this in the form of an essay or blog post, not as a scholarly thesis or a book (though one could easily write either about this). Some citations may make their way into this post, but rest assured that I can support every contention I make here.

    • The McGrath Report

    The McGrath Institute for Church Life, associated with the University of Notre Dame, released a report called Do You Know Them To Be Worthy? Twelve Proposals For Bishops, Rectors, Seminary Formation Teams and Mental Health Professionals in Assessing the Suitability of Men for Holy Orders earlier this year. The twelve proposals are divided among three sections: (1) proposals aimed at a more effective use of psychological services in the formation process, (2) proposed best practices regarding candidates with special needs, and (3) proposals aimed at supporting chastity and celibacy formation. The report ends with a few general conclusions.  One proposal mentions autism, Proposal 7 in Section 2.

    To understand what the McGrath Report has to say, we need to see it in its context. Its preface makes it very clear: this report has arisen from the need to offer something to help the Church address the clergy sexual abuse crisis. It does not arise from a placid, objective overview of the whole picture. It is a response to a crisis. A second, related purpose in the preface is to offer bishops a means of resisting the temptation to admit poor candidates for ordination merely because of the need for greater numbers of priests. The focus of this report is clearly on psychology. It offers no proposals on assessing the moral or spiritual readiness of candidates for the priesthood unless we choose to reduce these to their psychological components. The idea is to do what is possible to keep sexual predators out of the priesthood, while offering suggestions for the best use of psychological tools for seminary formation. The scope of this report is limited because of these factors. The report says little about the variety of psychological schools/approaches to be found in our country, or how some of these approaches are at variance with Catholic anthropology. Psychology is not monolithic. How does a seminary choose a Catholic psychology?

    It is in this context that the McGrath Report chooses to address the topic of autistic seminarians in Proposal 7. What should we make of this as autistic Catholics? Are the authors of the McGrath Report implying that autistic men have a tendency toward being sexual predators? Or, are we considering autistic seminarians in the light of the need for more priests which is leading dioceses to look in unlikely places, such as autistic men? I think of the movie Glory, which brings us back to a time in the Civil War where the need for more soldiers led the Union Army to allow free blacks and ex-slaves to form a regiment, something that the Army would not have done without the felt need. Should we as autistic people find this reassuring?  Or should we note that autistic people have been finding their way into the priesthood and religious life for a very long time?

    In this context, it is not surprising to note that autistic men are described only in terms of perceived psychological deficits: “reduced empathy, difficulty with social cues, cognitive and emotional rigidity, and impairments in executive functioning among others”. Considering that recent studies have seriously called into question the assumptions about empathy and rigidity given here (at least), seeing such statements repeated in a report of 2026 is like seeing a computer manual in 2026 telling us how to use our 640k of RAM!  On the other hand, the Report then makes this statement: “Here it is important to acknowledge that these traits can appear in any given candidate, not just those on the ASD spectrum.” (emphasis theirs) If I had my way, that line would be engraved into the formation process of every seminary and religious community.  Autistic people have been more often victims of rigidity and lack of empathy than the source of either.

    One example of this is a statistic in this report stating that 57% of bishops in a recent survey said they would be concerned about welcoming a “high-functioning” autistic man as a seminarian, and 20% would not accept such a man as a candidate for Holy Orders. A thought experiment: change “high-functioning autistic man” to “black man” or “Latino man” and see how that goes over.  It’s quite encouraging to note that one out of five bishops think that I should never have been a priest.

    We might conclude this section by asking whether speaking of autistic seminarians under the title of “Do You Judge Them To Be Worthy?” and not speaking of, say, narcissistic seminarians, places autistic seminarians in too harsh a light?

    • The National Catholic Register Article

    On August 20, the National Catholic Register published an article by Matthew McDonald called Autism and the Priesthood: How The Church is Responding. The McGrath Report is cited in this article as one of its inspirations, along with the increase of autism diagnoses in recent decades. One of the strengths of this article is that McDonald interviewed three autistic priests (including myself) and quoted them in the article. It is still rare to see things written about autistic people in the Church that actually consult autistic people. This is true even though that it makes as much sense as a Catholic writing an article about Buddhists without consulting any Buddhists beforehand.

    Now, since this is a fairly short newspaper article, we can’t expect a great deal of depth. The article touches on a number of important points. However, some things stand out as in need of further comment. The other autistic priests (besides myself) who were interviewed for the article stated that they did not believe that they could do well in parish ministry. Was this because of their autism, or simply because they are in religious orders that do not necessarily have the charism of parish ministry?

    Then there’s the elephant in this room – the way the article begins. We read of a deacon in a seminary who is described as an “expert in treating autism” who notices that an autistic seminarian genuflects “like a toy soldier” and sees a problem here, though the seminarian does not. Rather than recommend that the seminarian be asked to leave, we are told, the deacon works with the seminarian so that the seminarian’s genuflections become fluid so that this evidence of his autism becomes invisible. This episode shows an astonishing lack of empathy toward the autistic seminarian. Many autistic Catholics reacted very strongly to this episode online. Moreover, I am a canonist. I know of no rule that states that a seminarian who genuflects awkwardly is unqualified for Holy Orders. Why is autism portrayed as such an embarrassment that its effects must be hidden? Why is the possibility that someone, somewhere might find that seminarian’s autism “upsetting” more important than the autistic seminarian’s health or holiness? Why is the focus here on behaviorist solutions when behaviorism aligns poorly with Catholic anthropology? At the very least, this shows how far we still are in actually seeing autistic people as real people.  We wouldn’t treat others on this way; only some of the “disabled”. Who really are the disabled? Who is really lacking in empathy?

    • The Word on Fire Article

    On August 31, an article called ‘Strange Vocations’: A New and Welcomed Conversation about Priestly Eligibility, written by Mark Bradford, was posted on the Word on Fire website. Mark Bradford was appointed as Word on Fire’s Fellow for Persons with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities in 2023. I note this because this position covers a great deal of territory. Mark Bradford is well-intentioned, but one cannot escape the sense when one reads his articles that he is learning on the job.

    One example of this can be seen as he begins this article. He speaks of St. John Paul II’s apostolic exhortation Pastores Dabo Vobis as introducing a “new” area to be addressed in seminary formation: human formation. Having been in seminary in the 1980’s and knowing many priests ordained then (and before), I can safely say that “human formation” existed in seminaries even then!

    Bradford goes on to summarize the McGrath Report. This article seeks to continue the conversation that the Report started. Bradford gives a decent summary of the Report but does not note the context (the clergy sexual abuse crisis) that gave rise to the Report. He notes the Report’s language in referring to autism, ADHD and other conditions as “significant formative deficits”. The language of “deficits” is not immediately questioned, but then Bradford does an interesting thing. He makes reference to a book by Dr. Amy Richards called Disability in Classical Education, a term Dr. Richards uses (strange vocations) and some of St Augustine’s writings on what we would today call disabilities. What Bradford is trying to do is to move the discussion from psychology and deficits to theology and giftedness. His description of disability as revelatory of our mutual vulnerability is not new for those of us who are charter members of Disability, Inc., but we’d like to see more reflections along this line in Catholic publications. Bradford uses the term “cult of normalcy”, which actually comes from the writings of Thomas Reynolds. I’d love to see him explore that in more detail.

    However, as an autistic person, I have some issues with Bradford’s article. He cites Dr. Michael Waddell’s work on autistic identity. Dr. Waddell is not autistic.  Would you have an agnostic writing on Catholic identity? Am I saying that only an autistic person can write about autistic people? By no means! Nevertheless, I am calling out the attitude lurking behind such things all too often. Let me illustrate. Leon Van Ommen, who wrote Autism and Worship, tells us in his preface that he is not autistic. However, he has done his best to listen to autistic people and is open to correction if he gets anything wrong. Dr. Waddell’s background is philosophy. He has no training in autistic things. Nor is he autistic. He, like other non-autistic “experts”, come across as saying, “We know. You autistic people don’t know, so shut up and listen to us.”  I see no intellectual humility here. Therefore, I see no wisdom.  That is a serious problem.

    Then, there is this statement from Mark Bradford: “Presumably, those who apply (he means autistic men who seek to be seminarians) would understand the challenges they would face as autistics and be willing to assume the possible burden of masking some behaviors in order to serve in a pastoral role”. I’m sorry, but it is irresponsible to toss out such a statement without some careful explanation and reasoning behind it. Masking, as such, has been clinically shown to be harmful to autistic people in the long run. Granted that not all behaviors belong everywhere. But this must be handled carefully, by people with real empathy and love who actually get it. The potential for abuse, considering how vulnerable autistic people are, is very high. Incidentally, has anyone asked whether an extrovert should mask his outgoing personality so as not to offend an introvert? No? Why is that, pray tell? Why are autistic people held to a standard that is not applied to anyone else?

    • Concluding Thoughts

    With Mark Bradford, I can see some encouraging signs that there is more open discussion about autistic men and a priestly vocation in Catholic circles than there has been. However, in fairness I must note that some of our Protestant brethren have been discussing similar issues in their own denominations for decades. One can point to the Centre for Autism and Theology at the University of Aberdeen as one example. However, we must also realize that a similar discussion is just as needed about autistic people and a vocation to religious life, or the permanent diaconate, or (dare I say) marriage.

    Moreover, the focus in many of these discussions remains to an excessive degree on the psychological deficits of autistic people which may negatively impact their ability to serve as priests or religious. Such a focus is misguided. The ideal or perfect candidate does not exist and has never existed. Moreover, though we tend to view the individual priest in isolation, official statements such as Presbyterorum Ordinis (Vatican II) see the priest as a member of a presbyterate that serves the diocese or religious community as a presbyterate, regardless of the individual ministries of each priest (PO 3). The model here is clearly the Church as the Body of Christ, where each member has a place, no member can say that they don’t need the others, and where those whom the world sees as “weak” are given higher honor.

    Another unaddressed issue is how many proposed therapies for autistic people (adults as well as children) remain rooted in the behaviorist approaches first championed by Dr. Lovaas in the 1960’s and which remain common in schools even today. If one wishes to see a contemporary assessment of the failure of such practices, check out this article from the Denver Post.

    Most importantly, little or no consideration is given to those qualities that autistic men bring to the priesthood precisely because they are autistic. Let this quote from Presbyterorum Ordinis 3 illustrate the point: “(Priests) are to live as good shepherds that know their sheep, and they are to seek to lead those who are not of this sheepfold that they, too, may hear the voice of Christ, so that there might be one fold and one shepherd. To achieve this aim, certain virtues, which in human affairs are deservedly esteemed, contribute a great deal: such as goodness of heart, sincerity, strength and constancy of mind, zealous pursuit of justice, affability and others”. With the possible exception of affability (depending on how you define that), every one of these virtues has been recognized in the literature as a common virtue of autistic people. Again, I see no place where awkward movements or stimming are listed as impediments to Holy Orders.

    Finally, there is the Church’s bottom line. If these autistic men are truly called to the priesthood, who has called them? Do we not still believe that the Church is the Lord’s and that He it is Who builds it? Doesn’t the Lord know who He is calling? Do we need to second-guess Him or find some rationale to get rid of inconvenient people? Autistic people can at times be inconvenient. We see through “spin” very often and recognize that the Emperor has no clothes, and for our efforts we are labelled as “rude”. We speak for justice and truth and are accused of “black and white thinking”. Yet, we see that our accusers are more “black-and-white” when it comes to us than we have ever been. We see that people have already made up their minds about us before we say a word, but we are supposedly the rigid ones. If the Lord has chosen to call people like us to the priesthood and religious life, He has His reasons. Who would dare to argue with Him? Yet some do, indirectly. Could it be a sign that Church leadership is at risk of becoming “disabled” in its attitudes and that one way to reach them is to send the Church “disabled” priests who know well that their effectiveness comes from the Lord and not from their own ability? Do we really trust psychology more than grace?

  • Website maintenance and reconstruction

    WEBSITE MAINTENANCE: ⚠️

    The Autism Consecrated website will be starting maintenance and reconstruction as of September 10.

    The Autism Consecrated team is still available for prayer requests, vocation support, and consultation during the rebuild. Please keep us in your prayers and thank you for your patience!

  • Guest post: Deacon Mark Paine responds to “Strange Vocations” by Word on Fire’s Mark Bradford

    Link to original post: https://deaconmarkblog.wordpress.com/2026/09/07/a-response-to-strange-vocations-a-new-and-welcomed-conversation-about-priestly-eligibility-by-mark-bradford/

     

    I read Mark Bradford’s article, ‘Strange Vocations: A New and Welcomed Conversation About Priestly Eligibility’, with great interest. The fact that Catholic commentators are now openly discussing the possibility that autistic and other neurodivergent men might be called to ordained ministry represents real progress. For too long, disability and neurodiversity have been treated as barriers to vocation rather than as dimensions of human experience through which God may call people to serve His Church.
    Yet as an autistic deacon, I found myself uncomfortable with some of the assumptions contained in the article, and the language used to describe autistic people.

    The article welcomes discussion about admitting men with autism, ADHD and other conditions which the report it discusses describes as “significant formative deficits”. While the author is quoting the terminology of the report, the effect is nevertheless significant. Autism is immediately framed as a deficit, a lack, a problem requiring careful management.

    Many autistic people would challenge this description. I certainly would.

    Autism certainly brings challenges. I know this from lived experience. I have experienced severe anxiety, exhaustion from masking, and a lifelong sense of being somehow “wrong”. Yet autism is not simply a collection of deficits. It is a way of experiencing, processing and engaging with the world. It shapes how I encounter God, how I listen to people, and how I understand vulnerability and marginalisation. To speak of autism principally through the language of deficit risks overlooking the gifts and insights that autistic people bring to the Church.

    More fundamentally, I believe the article asks the wrong question.

    The central question appears to be whether autistic people can be suitable candidates for priesthood. But from an autistic perspective, the more important question may be whether seminary formation is capable of recognising and nurturing autistic vocations in the first place.

    Throughout my own formation, I often feared that autism would be regarded as a deal-breaker. Every assessment felt like a test of whether I could successfully perform neurotypical expectations. I worried that difference would be mistaken for deficiency. The problem was not a lack of vocation. The problem was an environment that often assumed one particular way of communicating, learning, socialising and expressing competence.

    This distinction matters.

    Too often, discussions about autistic candidates focus on what autistic people might lack rather than examining the institutional structures that create barriers. The unspoken assumption is that the candidate must adapt to the formation system. Rarely do we ask whether the formation system itself requires adaptation.

    If seminaries reward eye contact, social confidence, rapid verbal responses and ease in unfamiliar social situations, they may inadvertently be assessing conformity to neurotypical behaviour rather than fitness for ordained ministry. An autistic candidate may be judged as lacking “human formation” when in reality he is carrying an exhausting burden of masking and anxiety simply to appear acceptable.

    Another concern is the article’s reliance on the concept of the “ideal” candidate.

    The article acknowledges that considering autistic men for priesthood challenges existing assumptions about what an ideal seminarian looks like. But some autistic readers may ask why such an ideal exists at all. The Gospel consistently overturns human expectations concerning who is suitable for ministry. The Church is served not by a single personality type but by people with diverse gifts, weaknesses and experiences.

    Autistic priests and deacons may bring qualities that are especially valuable in ministry: honesty, authenticity, attention to detail, deep commitment to truth, and solidarity with those who feel excluded or misunderstood. These should not be regarded as compensations for disability but as genuine pastoral gifts.

    Perhaps the most significant omission in the wider conversation is the relative absence of autistic voices themselves.

    We have become accustomed to experts discussing autistic people, assessing autistic people and developing policies about autistic people. What is too often missing are the voices of autistic Catholics describing their own experiences of vocation, formation and ministry. Discussions about inclusion become more authentic when those with lived experience are not merely consulted, but placed at the centre of the conversation.

    The future of this discussion should therefore move beyond questions of eligibility.

    The Church should certainly discern candidates carefully. Not everyone is called to ordained ministry, autistic or otherwise. But the goal cannot simply be to determine whether autistic people can fit into existing structures. The deeper challenge is whether our structures themselves reflect the Church’s belief that every person is made in the image of God.

    Formation should not require autistic people to hide who they are. It should help them become more fully themselves in Christ. A truly Catholic approach to formation would recognise neurodiversity not as a problem to be overcome, but as one of the many ways in which God’s image is reflected in humanity.

    The question before us is not merely whether autistic people belong in seminaries. The question is whether seminaries and formation programmes are prepared to become places where autistic people can genuinely belong, flourish and respond to the call of God without first having to disguise the people God created them to be.

    https://www.wordonfire.org/articles/strange-vocations-a-new-and-welcomed-conversation-about-priestly-eligibility/

  • A Statement from Father Mark Nolette

    The National Catholic Register today published an article entitled “Autism and the Priesthood: How the Church is Responding”. I was sent some interview questions by the author beforehand. As a result, I have been quoted or mentioned several times in the article. I did not get to see the article before it was published. Neither I nor Autism Consecrated necessarily agree with the opinions of others cited in it.

    When we read that seminary formation for autistic seminarians involves making their autism “invisible”, or some seemingly offhand comment that “we’re all a little bit autistic”, would any human person be surprised if we experience such things as a slap in the face? Making autism “invisible” is another name for masking. Research and experience have shown how harmful masking is. Yet, it is ultimately dehumanizing, just as it is when representatives of the Church speak about autistic people only in terms of their inconvenience to the community.

    So much of this flies in the face of everything we seek to promote at Autism Consecrated. None of it is the Way of St. Thorlak. The most positive thing I can say about it is “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they say”.

    – Fr. Mark Nolette
    August 20, 2026

  • 2026 Summer Novena of Saint Thorlak

    2026 Summer Novena of Saint Thorlak

    July 11 begins the Summer Novena in Honor of Saint Thorlák, prayed during the nine days leading up to his summer feast day of July 20. As we do for St. Thorlák’s feast in December, we are again offering our novena prayers as a spiritual bouquet to the Diocese of Reykjavik, and encouraging everyone to join voices to our prayer.

    INTENTIONS EACH DAY OF ST. THORLAK NOVENA

    For the parishioners and clergy of…

    Day 1 Parish of the Holy Cross, Selfoss (July 11)
    Day 2 St. Joseph Parish and the Discalced Carmelites, Hafnarfjörður (July 12)
    Day 3 St. John Paul II Parish, Keflavík (July 13)
    Day 4 St. Mary Parish, Reykjavík; and for the Lay Missionaries of Charity there (July 14)
    Day 5 St. Thorlák Parish: St. Thorlák Church, Reyðarfjörður; Corpus Christi Chapel, Egilsstaðir; Holy Family & St. John Vianney Church, Höfn (July 15)
    Day 6 St. Peter’s Parish, Akureyri, and the Carmelite Sisters of the Divine Heart of Jesus there (July 16)
    Day 7 St. John the Evangelist Parish, Ísafjörður (Westfjörds). (July 17)
    Day 8 St. Francis of Assisi Parish, Stykkishólmur, including Borgarnes, Akranes, Ólafsvík, and Grundarfjörður (July 18)

    Day 9 Christ the King Parish, Reykjavik, and for the Missionaries of Charity and the Missionary Sisters of Christ the King there. We pray today especially for the intentions of Bishop David Tencer, and for all clergy and religious in Iceland; and for blessings upon all souls harbored in St. Thorlak’s homeland, that they may know the love of God and the Peace of Christ (July 19)

    JULY 20 = FEAST OF SAINT THORLAK

    This bouquet reflects the prayer on a regular basis throughout the year by the Domestic Prayer Missionaries of Saint Thorlák, a volunteer corps of missionaries-in-place whose work is to pray from where we are, in our current circumstances, in our present states of body and mind. We are “domestic,” meaning, staying in place; we pray from wherever we are able to be, transforming “everywhere” into one, common household, one family of God: “Domestic” Missionaries of St. Thorlák do our work from within the “home” of God’s Household. Thus, the domestic form of missionary work differs from that of missionaries who leave home to do their work elsewhere, publicly.

    The Domestic Prayer Missionaries’ focus is prayer in any way we are capable, including all forms of communication: fully spoken, low speaking, variably spoken and non-speaking. Our prayer takes the form of however we best express our hearts and intentions to God, in the place best suited to our abilities: at home, in chapel, outdoors; standing, kneeling, sitting, walking; wherever we connect fully with God at any given moment. Many Domestic Missionaries spend their time in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, but others may pray better in motion. Some “practice the presence of God” throughout the day, offering as we go, and some simply focus on the breath in prayer (e.g., breathe in “My Jesus,” breathe out “Mercy”) to create a “chapel of the heart” wherever we happen to be. Domestic Missionary prayer deliberately minimizes physical and social demands to keep our efforts focused on prayer. We draw special inspiration from the ways of Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection, whose Practice of the Presence of God is an excellent model for anyone, in any state of ability or disability, to offer prayers efficaciously and sincerely alongside those called to more conventional and active forms of missionary work.

    Please join us, and share with others who would be glad to pray with us for the Bishop and Diocese of Reykjavik! Novena prayers are free to download, print, and share from the Autism Consecrated website. An audio format of the novena may be found here.

  • Autism and the Imago Dei

    Autism and the Imago Dei

    Guest blog post by Deacon Mark Paine of the Archdiocese of Birmingham, UK

    Deacon Mark Paine, who himself is autistic, is developing a Catholic theological understanding of neurodivergence. In this post, he reflects upon autism and how it reflects the Image and Likeness of God.

    I have been reflecting on the Imago Dei—that we are made in the image and likeness of God.

    It is a phrase we use often.

    In sermons.
    In teaching.
    In conversation.

    And rightly so.

    But I am not sure we have fully reckoned with what it means when we speak of autism.

    Because there remains, even now, an assumption—sometimes quiet, sometimes more visible—that autism is something separate from the person.

    Something additional.
    Something regrettable.
    Something to be accommodated, if not overcome.

    But that is not how autism is lived.

    It is not at the edges.

    It is woven through the whole of a person’s life.

    Through how the world is encountered.
    Through how others are understood.
    Through how God is sought.

    And that matters.

    Because if we are to speak truthfully as the Church, we cannot say that autistic people bear the image of God apart from their autism.

    We must say, more plainly, that they bear the image of God as they are.

    Anything less begins to divide the person.

    And that is not a Christian way of seeing.

     

    The diaconal calling is, at its heart, a ministry of attention.

    To notice.
    To stand alongside.
    To serve at the place where Christ is already present, often unrecognised.

    And it seems to me that this is precisely where autism meets the Church.

    Not as a problem to be solved.

    But as a presence to be recognised.

    Because there is, within autistic experience, a particular kind of attentiveness.

    A concern for truth.
    A resistance to pretence.
    A willingness—sometimes costly—to remain with what is real rather than what is merely expected.

    That does not always sit comfortably within our patterns of church life.

    But discomfort is not the same as absence.

    So perhaps the question is a simpler one than we sometimes make it.

    Not whether autistic people can be included.

    But whether we are prepared to see what is already there.

    And that may take time.

    It may take a willingness to look again at things we have taken for granted.

    It may mean recognising that what appears unfamiliar is not therefore lacking.

    But if the Imago Dei is truly present—
    then it is already there to be seen.

    And perhaps, quietly,
    to be received.

    For more reflections by Deacon Mark, visit his blog, Marcus Diaconus

  • Celebrating Saint Thorlak!

    Celebrating Saint Thorlak!

    Celebrating Saint Thorlak!

    The second half of December brings us to the days leading up to Þorláksmessa, the Feast of Saint Thorlak, December 23.

    We are very pleased to share two ways to celebrate our patron saint this year.

    First, the Novena in Honor of Saint Thorlak, December 14-22, is being prayed by the faithful worldwide, and also as a spiritual bouquet to the clergy and people of Iceland by the Domestic Prayer Missionaries of Saint Thorlak. The schedule of daily intentions can be found below.

    Second, we are invited by Fr. Jakub Budkiewicz to the December 23 YouTube premiere of a 37-minute animated film, Saint Thorlak: The Patron of Iceland, by FableDock productions. The trailer for this project may be viewed here. Fr. Jakub was ordained in Iceland in 2007 and currently serves as a parish priest in a small town in Poland. The film has been in the works for several years and brings together Fr. Jakub’s love of St. Thorlak, talent in graphic design, and desire to create “Christian content and the teachings of the Catholic Church presented in a stunning, artistic, and fairytale-like visual form” (as quoted from FableDock’s YouTube channel).

    Let us pray for all the intentions brought to Autism Consecrated from around the world as we celebrate our patron and mentor in faith on Þorláksmessa!

    * * *

    Daily intentions of St. Thorlak Novena for the Clergy and People of Iceland:

    12/14 We pray today for St. John the Evangelist Parish, Westfjörds: for parishioners and their families, and for the special intentions of the priests and religious who serve there.

    12/15 We pray today for St. Peter Parish, North Iceland: for parishioners and their families, and for the special intentions of the priests and religious who serve there.

    12/16 We pray today for St. Thorlak Parish, East Iceland: for parishioners and their families, and for the special intentions of the priests and religious who serve there.

    12/17 We pray today for St. Mary Parish, Reykjavik/South Iceland: for parishioners and their families, and for the special intentions of the priests and religious who serve there.

    12/18 We pray today for St. Joseph Parish, Hafnarfjörður: for parishioners and their families, and for the special intentions of the priests and religious who serve there.

    12/19 We pray today for St. John Paul II Parish, Southwest Iceland: for parishioners and their families, and for the special intentions of the priests and religious who serve there.

    12/20 We pray today for Parish of the Holy Cross, South Iceland: for parishioners and their families, and for the special intentions of the priests and religious who serve there.

    12/21 We pray today for St. Francis of Assisi Parish, West Iceland: for parishioners and their families, and for the special intentions of the priests and religious who serve there.

    12/22 We pray today for Christ the King Parish, Reykjavik; for Bishop David Tencer, and for all clergy and religious in Iceland: for blessings upon all souls harbored in St. Thorlak’s homeland, that they may know the love of God and the Peace of Christ.

    DECEMBER 23 = FEAST OF SAINT THORLAK 😊

    * * *

    This bouquet reflects the prayer on a regular basis throughout the year by the Domestic Prayer Missionaries of Saint Thorlák, a volunteer corps of missionaries-in-place whose work is to pray from where we are, in our current circumstances, in our present states of body and mind.  We strive to exemplify what a fully accessible, universally-designed ministry can be for people of all abilities to pray side by side, neurodivergent and neurotypical. We are “domestic,” meaning, staying in place; we pray from wherever we are able to be, transforming “everywhere” into one, common household, one family of God: “Domestic” Missionaries of St. Thorlák do our work from within the “home” of God’s Household. This Domestic form of missionary work differs from that of missionaries who leave home to do their work elsewhere, publicly.

    The Domestic Prayer Missionaries’ focus is prayer in any way we are capable, including all forms of communication: fully spoken, low speaking, variably spoken and non-speaking. Our prayer takes the form of however we best express our hearts and intentions to God, in the place best suited to our abilities: at home, in chapel, outdoors; standing, kneeling, sitting, walking; wherever we connect fully with God at any given moment. Many Domestic Missionaries spend their time in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, but others may pray better in motion. Some “practice the presence of God” throughout the day, offering as we go, and some simply focus on the breath in prayer (e.g., breathe in “My Jesus,” breathe out “Mercy”) to create a “chapel of the heart” wherever we happen to be. Domestic Missionary prayer deliberately minimizes physical and social demands to keep our efforts focused on prayer. We draw special inspiration from the ways of Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection, whose Practice of the Presence of God is an excellent model for anyone, in any state of ability or disability, to offer prayers efficaciously and sincerely alongside those called to more conventional and active forms of missionary work.

    To learn more about the Domestic Prayer Missionaries of Saint Thorlák, or to become a Prayer Missionary yourself, download our prayer manual or contact us at AutismConsecrated.Com.

    Domestic Missionaries of Saint Thorlak – Prayer Booklet

     

  • A Prayer to Champion the Dignity of Autistic Lives

    Autism Consecrated is pleased to offer the following prayer, especially in light of the press conference on 9/22 which has sparked much emotion among the autism community. Feel free to share and pray this within your own communities.

     

    Lord Our God: We pray that all autistic people – children, teens, and adults – may be valued and validated in every community. May we champion the dignity of autistic people of every ability and support level, affirming each autistic person as worthy of love, respect, support, and belonging. May we be the example that is sorely lacking in a world which cultivates fear, misunderstanding and division.

    Saint Thorlak Thorhallsson: PRAY FOR US!

  • Prayers of Reparation and Healing for Autistic People

    Prayers of Reparation and Healing for Autistic People

     

    As a follow-up to our last post, here is the list of Prayers of the Faithful as they were originally written. Feel free to pray them, and to download and print the PDF of these prayers for your own use.

    Please note: These prayers were composed by actually autistic people. When we speak of “offering our autism,” we are speaking from the first-person. The phrasing of this petition and others may need to be modified accordingly when these prayers are offered by those who are neurotypical.

    * * * * *

    Prayers of Reparation and Healing for Autistic People

    To affirm the value of all autistic lives of all ages and all support needs:

     

    – When our autistic struggles are portrayed as burdensome and our lives deemed worthless by society, may we persevere in faith, not yielding to despair, but trusting that truth will triumph through the grace of God.

     

    Lord, hear us!

     

    – May we, as Church, have the courage to speak up and defend the humanity and dignity of autistic people – and to pray publicly for those who dehumanize and devalue autistic lives. Let us pray especially for the conversion of anyone who sees us as a burden on families and society. May our hearts be pierced with contrition for any time we have contributed to this attitude, in however small a gesture we may have made in viewing autistic needs as inconvenient – or worse.

     

    Lord, hear us!

     

    – May Church leaders actively speak out against dehumanizing autistic people… and may their actions and examples ensure this does not happen in our parishes. May our pastors and bishops lead the way for others to follow, and to make reparation for those who would have us eliminated.

     

    Lord, hear us!

     

    -As the Body of Christ, we must summon our leaders and laity alike to pray for autistic people now more than ever. For our part, we offer our own autism in witness to the dignity of all human lives.

     

    Lord, hear us!

     

    -May we, with renewed commitment, pursue accurate and current information about autism and autistic accommodations, with our focus on building a community that supports and champions autistic members of all ages.

     

    Lord, hear us!

     

    – May we call upon the patronage and intercession of Our Blessed Mother, Saint Thorlak, Sts.___________ , Saint Hannibal Maria Di Francia, and Luisa Piccarreta (Servant of God) to lead the Church in embracing and supporting neurodiversity among all members of the Body of Christ in your Holy Divine Will and on behalf of all souls past present and future.

     

    Lord, hear us!

     

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  • An Apology

    An Apology

    Very late yesterday, we learned from friends in Ireland that a Mass of Reparation would be offered at 3pm Dublin time today. This was very carefully and thoughtfully put together by a group of faithful individuals who pray weekly for healing the ways our society approaches autism and autistic people. The weekly intentions include resolutions to better understand and promote neurodiversity and to make amends for errors in understanding which have led to the harmful stereotypes and alienation of autistic people we are all too familiar with.

    These friends eagerly described this as a Mass of Reparation for the times when autistic lives have not been valued. It seemed like ideal timing, between April’s being dubbed “Autism Month” and the recent public statements made by the US Department of Health and Human Services which starkly revealed the underbelly of societal attitudes – which most people don’t want to admit are still there, but are ultimately just as dehumanizing toward autistic people as any of the darkest periods of human history.

    What a gift. The chief person organizing this Mass is herself late-diagnosed autistic and is personally invested in making things better for neurodivergent people worldwide. She helped draft what would be the Prayers of the Faithful, asking for and using suggestions from Autism Consecrated, and was very excited to see this come together.

    And then? After we shared this good news and invited autistic people worldwide to join us, it all got changed at the very last minute.

    No longer a Mass of Reparation, it was a Mass for “People Affected By Autism.”

    The Prayers of the Faithful were hastily rewritten – by someone who isn’t (to my knowledge) autistic.

    The only time the word “autistic” was used was when our friend managed to sneak it in, saying that she herself is autistic. All other mentions reverted to “people affected by autism,” which is the term used by people who do not care that autistic people like being called autistic people, and that the phrase “affected by autism” perpetuates the stereotypes for which we hoped to make reparation.

    In short: The Mass intentions requested in good faith by autistic people were hijacked and rewritten to conform to neurotypical sensibilities.

    Yes, you read that correctly. Autistic voices – autistic pleadings in prayer –  were silenced, ignored, and overridden by nonautistic voices who assume they know better.

    The intentions which are dearly important and meaningful to us were DELETED and replaced by intentions from a neurotypical perspective. This happened mere minutes before Mass began, giving us no time to react, or to protest, or to ask why.

    THIS IS WRONG ON EVERY LEVEL.

    This was supposed to be a Mass affirming the value of autistic lives. That cannot happen when autistic voices are censored and our intentions completely changed.

    Autism Consecrated offers our most sincere apology to those who expected what we expected. We had no idea our Mass would be turned into the very thing we intended to heal from and to make reparation about.

    We are truly sorry.

    And we will continue to pray, to offer personal prayers for reparation, and to persist in our mission to realize autism’s belonging in the Body of Christ.