CHARLOTTE — Participants in the annual National Catholic Office for the Deaf Pastoral Week Jan. 13-17 had an unusual and beautiful opportunity to worship together at Mass Jan. 15 at St. Matthew Church. Deaf priests and some hearing priests trained in American Sign Language signed throughout the Mass, even signing parts of the Eucharistic Prayer.
During the one-hour Mass, sign-language interpreters were positioned on each side of the sanctuary, interpreting the Mass and leading deaf and hearing-impaired parishioners in signing the Mass parts and songs.
Monsignor Mauricio West, vicar general and chancellor of the Diocese of Charlotte, served as the main celebrant. Eleven priests attending the conference concelebrated Mass.
More than 100 members of the National Catholic Office for the Deaf from around the U.S. and Canada attended the Mass at St. Matthew Church and also the conference held at the Charlotte Crowne Plaza Executive Park Hotel in south Charlotte. The annual conference gives laity and clergy the opportunity to gather and receive valuable training and resources for deaf ministry in their dioceses and parishes.
St. Matthew Church has offered deaf ministry for its parishioners for more than 10 years under the leadership of pastor Monsignor John McSweeney.
“We are honored to host this national group,” Monsignor McSweeney said. “A very important aspect of our Masses at St. Matthew is the signing for the deaf. We are delighted that St. Matthew is able to host this event.”
Father Shawn Carey, a deaf priest from the Archdiocese of Boston who serves on the board of directors for the National Catholic Office for the Deaf, signed the Gospel reading at Mass.
“Deaf ministry is important because oftentimes the deaf people feel isolated, they have no access to faith, and they do need faith to have a good life and serve the Lord. They have to. Without that, then they are lost sheep, like an island all alone. But if they have faith, we can encourage them to continue their faith and follow the call of God.”
He expressed that for many years the Catholic Church was unsure of how best to minister to the deaf.
Father Carey, who is deaf, admitted that his vocation had its challenges, as he was initially denied entry to seminary. He was encouraged to persevere when he attended a movie providentially called “Signs,” where the main character becomes a priest at the end of the movie. He knew then he had to continue his journey towards the priesthood. He found St. Patrick’s Seminary in California, which offered a program for deaf men studying to become priests. They had interpreters to help seminarians study for the priesthood.
“Now I am a priest for almost eight years!” he said. He was ordained in 2009 by Cardinal Sean O’Malley at Holy Cross Cathedral in Boston and now serves as the director of the deaf apostolate for the Archdiocese of Boston.
Father Matt Alcombright, pastor of Mary, Mother of Hope Church in Springfield, Mass., is the director of deaf ministry for the Diocese of Springfield. His parish is the home of deaf ministry for the diocese. He is not hearing impaired but is trained in American Sign Language. Father Alcombright served as homilist at the Jan. 15 Mas.
“I was ordained in 2012 and became director of deaf ministry a month after my ordination,” he explained. “Deaf ministry is important to the Church because, as the Church teaches, we are supposed to have one faith, one people, one language – universality – and that includes the deaf.”
“As the Church documents say, it’s ‘full, active and conscious participation,’ so if you have deaf people with no interpreter or nothing for them, there is no participation, there is no consciousness of what is happening,” he said.
“It’s so important as to what the Church wants us to do. The Church wants us to provide these ministries not only to the deaf but those with any kind of disability. We need to provide for them,” he said.
Laureen Lynch-Ryan, a regional board president for the National Catholic Office for the Deaf, helped to organize the annual conference.
“The National Catholic Office for the Deaf hopes to provide support for pastoral workers throughout the nation, so we that can maintain deaf ministry and provide education not only to deaf children but to deaf adults and their families, so we can help them continue to grow in the Catholic faith,” she said.
Local deaf and hearing-impaired parishioners also attended the conference and some served as lectors at Mass.
Ron Kolodziej, a parishioner of Holy Spirit Church in Denver, signed the first reading. Deaf since the age of 5 after contracting the measles, Kolodzielj said he feels called to assist others in hearing the Word of God and growing in their faith. For more than a decade, he has served the deaf and hearing-impaired community in the Diocese of Charlotte, volunteering as an interpreter and also in faith formation ministry.
One of those whom Kolodziej assisted is a young man named Patrick Vellia, whom he has helped since Vellia was a teen. Vellia signed the second reading at Mass Jan. 15.
“Deaf ministry is an important aspect of the Church because it provides communication access to the deaf and hard of hearing members of the Church in a medium that they may receive the Word of God,” Vellia said.
Vellia participated in Life Teen during his high school years and founded the Joyful Hands Ministry at Gardner-Webb University while attending college there. After Mass, the Joyful Hands Choir performed a special song for the congregation.
Jona Maiorano, coordinator of deaf ministry at St. Matthew Church, believes the National Catholic Office for the Deaf has worked diligently to compile or create resources that are accessible to persons who are deaf or hard of hearing and then disseminate that information to parishes.
“They have developed religious education resources that are available to churches or parents for providing religious education to their children” she said. “NCOD also provides churches with training on how to work with their deaf ministries, in addition to providing spiritual opportunities and training for deaf and hard of hearing Catholics that want to be involved in the Catholic Church. Their efforts enable Catholics who are deaf and hard of hearing the ability to live their faith fully.”
The St. Matthew Knights of Columbus hosted a banquet for the conference participants after the Mass.
— SueAnn Howell, senior reporter
For more information
The National Catholic Office for the Deaf is dedicated to providing pastoral ministry to persons who are deaf or hard of hearing, so they may fully participate in the life of the Church. The NCOD does this by providing resources to bishops for developing and supporting deaf ministry programs, develop and provide religious education materials and provides pastoral training opportunities. To learn more, go to www.ncod.org
