BISHOP BLAIR TO PRESENT 2007 OPEN ARMS AWARDS

February 27, 2007 – Toledo, OH – The Diocese of Toledo’s Office of Equal Access Ministry will honor Catholics with disabilities at its annual Open Door Liturgy on Saturday, March10 at the 4:30 pm Mass at St. Mary’s located at 85 South Sandusky Street, Tiffin, Ohio.  Bishop Leonard P. Blair will serve as Principal Celebrant for the liturgy, and will also present the 2007 Open Arms Awards, honoring people with disabilities modeling Gospel values within their parishes and communities.

According to Marsha Rivas, Director of the Office of Equal Access Ministry, the awards are an important awareness tool for educating the faith community. “When pastoral leaders and people in the pews recognize the gifts that parish members with disabilities have to share, it encourages people to be welcoming and accommodating, and to allow people with all abilities to minister.

The following individuals were nominated by their home parish and selected by the Equal Access Ministry Advisory Council for the 2007 Open Arms Award:

Debra L. Manuella, from Sts. Peter and Paul Parish, ministered to the community in Sandusky for many years as a teacher’s aide and nurse for students with disabilities; and as a catechist and a minister of Holy Communion. After suffering a stroke in 2001 as a result of brain surgery, Debra continued in her ministry by tutoring children with disabilities; volunteering at the annual PTO fair and parish festival; and participating in cancer walks and other fund-raisers. She is in her 16^th year of teaching religious education to first graders.

Ginny Place is from Good Shepherd Parish in Toledo. She is a team member for Christ Renews His Parish and serves on the executive committee for InnerVision, a faith-sharing support group for people with vision loss that meets monthly. She is also a minister of Holy Communion. Before St. Louis Parish was closed she served there as Altar Rosary vice-president, RCIA team member, Pastoral Council and Liturgy Committee member. She was also a volunteer at Helping Hands Soup Kitchen in East Toledo. Ginny has been visually impaired since birth.

James Reiter is a minister of Holy Communion at St. Clement Parish in Toledo. He has co-facilitated SPECK Retreats throughout the diocese for five years and has been a member of the Faith & Light Community in Toledo since its inception three years ago. James graduated from Toledo Central Catholic High School and now works full-time at Lott Industries. He has participated in Special Olympics for 25 years in various events, including track and field, swimming, bowling, basketball, tennis, golf and softball. He was invited to attend the World Games for Special Olympics twice. Among his hundreds of medals and awards, James has the torch he carried through Toledo on its relay to the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles in 1984. James has Down Syndrome.

Reverend Richard Saelzler is chaplain of the Ursuline Sisters in Toledo. Since his ordination in 1976 he has served as associate pastor at Lima St. Charles, Sandusky Sts. Peter & Paul, Toledo St. Thomas Aquinas and Fostoria St. Wendelin. He served as pastor of the Historic Church of St. Patrick in Toledo and as chaplain of Lima Central Catholic High School and St. Thomas More University Parish in Bowling Green. He also worked as instructor at Saint Mary Central Catholic High School in Sandusky, Cardinal Stritch High School in Oregon, Central Catholic High School in Toledo; and principal at St. Wendelin High School in Fostoria. After losing his sight as a result of complications from cancer surgery, Father Ric relearned to preside at liturgies through the use of technology, ingenuity, and his keen wit and sense of humor.

William J. Timmerman is a member of St. Patrick Parish in Bryan and is well-known in his community as a vocational counselor, retreat leader, husband, father and grandfather. Bill has a Bachelors degree from the University of Illinois, a Masters degree from Xavier University and a Doctoral degree from the University of Toledo. He directed Quadco Rehabilitation Center for 12 years and founded A Quiet Place in Bryan as a Christian healing room open to the community for no charge. He served on the RCIA team at his parish for 13 years, made a Cursillo Retreat, as well as many other parish retreats. Bill is disabled from polio, which he contracted in 1958 at the threshold of a promising career in professional baseball.

Donald L. Wilhelm is a parishioner of Corpus Christi University Parish in Toledo originally from Fremont. Don is a husband and father. He worked for the Diocese of Toledo for 25 years in various positions, including Director of Pastoral Services. He also worked as a consultant to the United States Bishops’ Advisory Council. After his diagnosis of ALS, commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, in 1987 Don served three terms on the board of trustees of the Ability Center of NW Ohio and served on the Advisory Committee for the Toledo Muscular Dystrophy Association. For ten years he has served on a prison ministry team and has provided on-line support to over 20 persons with ALS. Don leads a small Christian community in his home and volunteered many hours each week for over a year teaching a Baptist deacon to read.

For more information on the Open Door Liturgy and the 2006 Open Arms Awards, please contact Marsha Rivas at 419-244-6711.

The Diocese of Toledo, established April 15, 1910 encompasses 8222 square miles in a mixture of urban and rural areas that spans 19 counties across Northwest Ohio, serving 306,532 Catholics. The diocese includes Allen, Crawford, Defiance, Erie, Fulton, Hancock, Henry, Huron, Lucas, Ottawa, Paulding, Putnam, Richland, Sandusky, Seneca, Van Wert, Williams, Wood and Wyandot counties.

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