Originally Posted by willravel

I have to respectfully disagree. You can't equate a person with average intelligence with a person of lower inteligence in this case. If someone like me or you (who are of normal mental abilities) were making noise in church, we would be fully aware that we were making the noice in a place where it is innapropriate. We have a grasp of social rules because of our cognative abilties. Unfortunatly, the intellectually disabled man in the church did not seem to ahve such a grasp. Intent was not there the same way that sympathy doesn't seem to be here. The Catholic Church's stand on mental retardation is very simple: God loves all of His children. We have to learn sympathy and empathy in order to facilitate these people because they are a part of our society. Dismissal is an option only considered by those who are too ignorant to sympathise.