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| Msgr. Thomas Campion, left, and Msgr. Larry Bakke, right, greet guests at Apostolate events. (Catholic Herald file photos) |
MADISON — In 1967, Bishop Cletus F. O’Donnell of Madison asked a young priest, Fr. Thomas Campion, to undertake a new ministry — outreach to persons with disabilities. Father Campion embraced this new challenge. The Apostolate to the Handicapped was founded on October 31, 1967.
The first work of the organization was to develop a weekly television Mass to help support and strengthen the spiritual lives of people of all faiths facing disabilities. Through the generosity of the owner of WISC-TV, Channel 3, in Madison, the first television Mass was aired on the First Sunday of Advent in 1967 and has continued ever since.
Following Monsignor Campion’s death in 2010, Msgr. Larry Bakke, pastor of St. Clare of Assisi Parish in Monroe, was appointed Apostolate director by Bishop Robert Morlino in 2011. In 2016, the Apostolate to the Handicapped’s name was changed to the Apostolate for Persons with Disabilities-Diocese of Madison. The Apostolate builds on the vision of its first director while expanding its outreach to include more fully persons with disabilities in the life of the Church in the Diocese of Madison.
For more on the Apostolate, see the special section in this week’s Catholic Herald.