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Archdiocese of Newark, Office for Pastoral Ministry with Persons with DisabilitiesAnne Masters, Ph.D., FAAIDD is the Director of the Office for Pastoral Ministry with Persons with Disabilities for the Archdiocese of Newark. The purpose of the Office is to foster the appreciation of individuals with disabilities as indispensable members of the Church, to empower parishes to support meaningful participation in all aspects of congregational life, and to accompany families on their faith journey. Anne is particularly interested in individuals with autism learning to attend Mass and participating fully in parish life, and supported employment improvements as a justice issue. She draws on evidence-based practices to promote synergy between Church belief statements and pastoral activity. Her published writing includes both academic and pastoral works, and has presented on theology, adaptive catechetical and supportive pastoral practices in the US and Europe. She is currently writing a program of parish formation with Cristina Gangemi of The Kairos Forum, UK, funded by Our Sunday Visitor Institute about Living Fully as the Body of Christ, based on the charter written out of the conference of the same name with the Pontifical Council for Culture in 2016. Anne collaborates with Catholic and interfaith partners, has contributed to the work of the National Catholic Partnership on Disabilities (NCPD), is a Fellow of the American Association of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD) and a past president of its Religion & Spirituality Interest Network. She has a B. A. in Social Work with a concentration on the family, M.A. in Theology and was awarded her Ph.D. in Theology in 2020 for her thesis, Who Do You Say That I Am? Overcoming the Marginalization of Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities in the US Catholic Church.
Anne Masters, Ph.D., FAAIDD
973-497-4309
Archdiocese of Newark
P.O. Box 9500
171 Clifton Avenue
Newark, NJ 07104
