The earliest ministry to deaf Catholics was likely in early 17th century France, when Saint Francis de Sales developed a sign language in order to instruct a deaf person about God. This event is depicted in an icon written by a parishioner under the guidance of Father Thomas Rozman. It shows the saint giving a deaf child the hand sign for “Trinity”. This icon was placed on display in our church after being blessed by Bishop Ronald Gainer in 2017.
Various efforts have been made in dioceses throughout Pennsylvania to minister to deaf persons. There are now, begun between 1949 and 1989, also organizations and services on the national level, namely the International Catholic Deaf Association (US Section), National Catholic Office for the Deaf (NCOD), Deaf Cursillo, and annual trainings such as Pastoral Week led by the NCOD.
When Ginny Stack (formerly Duncan) became the first Director of the Diocese’s Office of Ministry for People with Disabilities, a request was made along with Frank Nemshick, Jr., a very active deaf Catholic, to meet with then-Bishop Kevin Rhoades to bring awareness to the importance of introducing seminarians and parish priests to the needs of the deaf community.
The Deaf Community had made its home at Saint Patrick Cathedral, Harrisburg. Sandy Duncan (Ginny’s late husband) was instrumental in helping to arrange for Father Rozman to learn American Sign Language (ASL). Father attended Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. for summer sessions between 2008 and 2010. Gallaudet is a private university for the education of the deaf and hard of hearing people.
Subsequently, Father Rozman then began offering one Sunday Mass each week simultaneously in voice and ASL, with an ASL interpreter signing the voice readings and homily. He also offered confessions.
Father’s reassignment to our Parish in 2015 brought this wonderful ministry to Saint Joseph’s where he began conducting monthly classes in the faith for deaf persons, offering a deaf Bible study class, and sponsoring annual weekend retreats led by a visiting deaf priest. Our Parish continues to be aware of the need for ministry to persons with all types of disabilities.
Your continued prayerful support of Saint Joseph’s Deaf Ministry will enable us to continue to worship and grow along with you. Continuing our commitment to the Deaf Catholic community, we are the only parish in the diocese to offer weekly Masses in ASL and captioning /interpreting of most online offerings. We look forward to continuing with our classes, our Bible study, etc., whether online or in person (when protocols allow).
It would be nice to have more ASL interpreters in order to offer more opportunities for the deaf to learn about, practice and evangelize our faith. If you know of someone who is deaf, whether or not they are Catholic, please let them know about our ministry - we are blessed to be part of Saint Joseph Parish! Every hearing person who has an interest in this ministry, any of our deaf guests – you are always welcome to sit with us in the reserved section in front of the ambo at the 9:45 Sunday Mass. Steven Baier is currently the leader of the Deaf Ministry. He can be reached at [email protected]. We want to give a special thank you to our devoted interpreters: Christine Adzema, Linnet Myers, Ginny Stack.
SAINT FRANCIS DE SALES, PATRON OF DEAF CATHOLICS, PRAY FOR US!