Is Pope role model or bad example for disabled people?

Much has been made of Pope John Paul II soldiering on while becoming increasingly debilitated by a condition that bears all the marks of Parkinson's disease. But not all persons with disabilities find the handling of the Pope's condition admirable.

John Keck is one. He founded the worldwide Handicapped Encounter Christ (HEC) retreat group more than a quarter-century ago, partnering able-bodied and disabled people for weekend retreats.

Disabled himself, he doesn't see the Pope as providing a good example for others on how to handle their own disabilities.

Admitting it

For one thing, Mr. Keck told The Evangelist, the Vatican has never admitted that the Pope actually has Parkinson's and often insists that he is more physically able than he appears at public audiences.

"Anytime you try and hide something, it's very unhealthy," he said. "As a person, he has that right [to privacy]; as a pope, I'm not sure he does."

Mr. Keck, who lives in Yorktown Heights, N.Y., isn't even sure the Pope sees himself as disabled, rather than as simply an older man with some medical problems. People of Pope John Paul's generation, he noted, tend to view those with disabilities as "noble" or "God's special children," not as people just like themselves.

The Pope may hope to be a role model for other disabled persons, but Mr. Keck doesn't believe people will see him as such.

"The Pope is treated with kid gloves at all times, whether or not he's disabled," he observed. "He's not seen as another person. I would have a hard time having him be an example to me. I don't know if the Pope would ever be in a position to advocate for anyone besides other popes, because of the position we put him in."

Supermen

The retreat leader compared the pontiff to actor Christopher Reeve, who was paralyzed in an accident in 1995 and has become a passionate advocate of stem-cell research, insisting that with medical advances, he will walk again.

Both the actor and the Pope, said Mr. Keck, are expected to be

"super-human. Christopher Reeve is okay as long as he's fighting, but if he were to say, `I'm paralyzed, and this is the way it's going to be,' I don't know if he'd get the accolades he's getting now."

But "why isn't the way you are okay?" he added. "Why do you have to prove anything?"

Facing facts

Mr. Keck recalled his own experience teaching children with special needs. When a debilitating back condition made him unable to physically keep up with children in the classroom, he knew it was time to retire.

"It got clear to me that the kids were suffering because of my inability to get around," he remarked. "Morally, I had to get out."

Although speculation abounds that John Paul II has drafted a letter of resignation to be used when he feels he can no longer serve, Mr. Keck is waiting to see how the situation will be handled.

"This might be an opportunity for him to say -- as he did, very clearly -- that the father of a family doesn't stop being a father because he has troubles," he stated. However, "isn't there a time when the children begin to help you? That's normal in a family, too."

The Pope, said Mr. Keck, must ask himself: "Am I the leader of people here -- am I able to be? If I am, so be it. But if I'm not, I need to think about" stepping down.

(For information, write Handicapped Encounter Christ, 2455 Hunterbrook Rd., Yorktown Heights, NY 10598, or call 914-734-2933.)

(11/20/03) [[In-content Ad]]