STEUBENVILLE — Franciscan University of Steubenville catechetics professor Sister M. Johanna Paruch, FSGM, PhD, was recently elected to the Board of Directors of the National Catholic Partnership on Disability by a unanimous vote.

“It is a tremendous honor for me to be elected to the NCPD board. I have always wanted to take a more active role in this important ministry. God has truly blessed me,” said Sister Paruch.

A member of the Sisters of St. Francis of the Martyr St. George, Sister Paruch has dedicated much of her life to working with those with disabilities. As a junior high school teacher, she designed projects to help her students understand and interact with people with disabilities. In 1980, she pursued a degree in deaf communication to become a pastoral worker with deaf and deaf-blind people.

Since coming to Franciscan University in 1999, she has trained hundreds of theology and catechetics majors on how to provide religious instruction for persons with disabilities, utilizing the Blessed Margaret Castello Day presentation she developed in honor of the Dominican blessed who had severe disabilities.

“People with disabilities are not to be merely the recipient of evangelization and catechesis,” says Sister Paruch, “but also practitioners.”

She has presented seminars and workshops throughout the country, including at Franciscan University’s St. John Bosco Conference, and has written a series on “Catechesis for Persons With Disabilities” for The Catechetical Review. She has also served the deaf community as an interpreter, particularly in the liturgy and catechetical programs for children.

Sister Paruch says she is especially excited to assist the NCPD help students with disabilities be accepted and thrive in the nation’s Catholic schools.

Established in 1982, the National Catholic Partnership on Disability works collaboratively to ensure the meaningful participation of people with disabilities in all aspects of the life of the Church and society, and to implement in parishes and dioceses throughout the United States the 1978 Pastoral Statement of U.S. Catholic Bishops on Persons With Disabilities.

Sister Paruch began serving on the NCPD board in October.