As argued through this book, studying petitions and letters enriches our
understanding of institutional and religious history: it sheds light on the
Church’s place in society and on the contemporary understanding of
disability. Indeed, the process of supplication could erase the negative
institutional effects of disability by actively including the disabled cleric
within the ecclesial and Christian body. With this process, the Apostolic
See thus created a metaphorical place conducive to negotiation, where
disabled clerics could disclose their physical and/or mental difficulties
to advocate for themselves, requesting accommodations from the
institutional Church.
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