Jesus and the Portrayal of People with Disabilities in the Scriptures

This article explores the role of Christian scripture as a basis for understanding the experiences of people with intellectual disabilities in Ireland. Historically, Irish services for people with intellectual disabilities were provided by Roman Catholic religious orders and congregations and it is posited that scriptural perspectives provided a context for, not just the service response but also, the societal response in a largely Christian State. By examining the Old and New Testaments and, in particular, the suffering, death and wounding of Jesus, it is proposed that there was, from the origins of Christianity, a fundamental misunderstanding of Christian community and that this facilitated t he development of a faith based approach, akin to eugenics, which was unwittingly grounded in injustice and dehumanisation. This is discussed within the context of the Spiritan mission related to the work of justice