Many people will have been saddened to read the news that a French court has banned the screening of a positive commercial about young people with Down’s syndrome. The children smile and look happy. Apparently seeing them might make women who have had abortions feel guilty. Their feelings must be protected.
I thought of this when reading Pia Matthews’s moving and revelatory book, God’s Wild Flowers: Saints with Disabilities (Gracewing). Dr Matthews, who lectures at Wonersh seminary, has compiled a large list of saints who suffered from physical or mental problems. I asked her what had prompted her to write her book.
