by Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Writer
(May 20, 2008) The pastor of a Minnesota parish was forced to make a painful decision when the behavior of a 13 year old autistic boy became so disruptive he had to ban the boy from Sunday Mass.
According to Father Daniel Walz, pastor of the Church of St. Joseph in Bertha, Minnesota, the behavior of Adam Race, a six foot, 225 pound autistic teen, had become “extremely disruptive and dangerous” during Mass since last summer. The boy spits, urinates in church, fights when he is being restrained and nearly knocks over children and elderly parishioners on his way out of church.
In an affidavit, Father Walz wrote: “The parish members and I have been very patient and understanding. I have made repeated efforts through Catholic Education Ministries, Caritas Family Services, and most recently, sought to try and mediate the matter with the family to ask them to voluntarily not bring Adam to church, but it has been to no avail.”
Walz said the church “explored and offered many options for accommodations that would assist the family while protecting the safety of parishioners. The family refused those offers of accommodation.”
Adam’s parents said the problem started last June when Father Walz and a church trustee visited the Races to speak about the problem of their son’s behavior at Mass.
“He said that our son was physically out of control and a danger to everyone at church,” said the boy’s mother, Carol Race. “I can’t discipline him out of his autism, and I think that’s what our priest is expecting.”
She told the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune that Father Walz’s descriptions of Adam’s behavior illustrate that he understands little about autistic behavior and how to address it. For instance, she said that Walz used language like “urinate” to describe an incontinence problem that Adam sometimes experiences which is similar to that of an elderly person or young child.
She said her family of seven, which has attended St. Joseph’s since 1996, typically sat in the cry room or in a back pew to avoid disrupting the services and never heard a complaint from anyone until the pastor showed up at their home one day last June. Despite the pastor’s concerns, the family continued to attend Mass at St. Joseph’s.
Finally, on May 9, a restraining order was issued, a move the Diocese of St. Cloud called a “last resort out of a growing concern for the safety of parishioners and other community members due to disruptive and violent behavior on the part of that child.”
The Race family defied the order, calling it discriminatory, and continued to attend Mass at St. Joseph’s but left before the closing hymn to avoid contact with others.
However, when the family left for Mass last Sunday morning, Todd County Sheriff Pete Mikkelson met them at the end of their driveway and told Carol Race she would be arrested if she continued to defy the restraining order. The family decided to fulfill their Sunday obligation at nearby Christ the King Church in Browerville.
A court hearing on the matter has been continued until June 2 to enable the Race family to hire an attorney.
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In “Autism: Challengs, Graces and Joys” Mark and Beth Matthews tell the story of their strange but wonderful journey of faith with an autistic son.
