9th print edition

A LAY CATECHIST WITH THE DEAF -

“All baptized have a right to catechesis…it’s a primary responsibility of the church to respond to this” GDC #167

1)  Some history and the current state of Deaf Catechesis

December 1961 I stepped into a Catholic day school for the deaf in Chicago as a new hearing lay teacher for deaf children – I was also their catechist. Studying Deaf Education at a Catholic university in Chicago, the communication method was oralism –

the trend for most U.S. day schools at that time (no sign language nor finger spelling allowed).

Within a few years, Vatican II happened. Sign language was being permitted in day schools, if used with speech. My interest in catechesis with deaf children became a full time vocation with a graduate degree. It has included being a catechist for deaf/Deaf children and hearing children all ages; youth ministry, family programs, 30 years as catechetical leader of an archdiocesan deaf program, catechist training, adapting catechetical curriculum for deaf children, numerous national gatherings and contacts.

A full time professional catechetical leader for the Deaf, on the diocesan level, is a rare position. It was made possible the past 30 years here in Chicago thanks to the ongoing efforts and leadership of Fr. Joseph Mulcrone.

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Numerous changes have happened nationally in these 48 years. Some things have stayed the same. Catechetical programs did and still do hinge on the deaf child’s education placement. Schooling beginning at age 3, was either at the state residential school, at “day classes for the deaf” in public schools in large cities, or in the handful of Catholic or private residential and day schools here in the U.S. Thousands of deaf children nationally were and are uncatechized.

Catechesis for deaf children attending public schools was offered by volunteer Catholic teachers from those schools, for an hour or two each week. A few deaf children were instructed in a rectory, a convent, or a teacher’s home, one to one, sometimes by writing back and forth. Some Deaf adults received their catechetical instruction in 1940s, 50s and 60s using the Baltimore catechism, frightened by the pictures and unable to understand the words, or they had a few lessons with a parish priest or nun writing back and forth.

95% of deaf children have hearing parents. The Catholic deaf child’s Church community was and often is their hearing parent’s parish if they attended school in their city or at an interpreted Mass if available near the state school. They were often told to look at their missal and “read” the Mass and songs, often not understanding the “church words”. Some were “catechized” by the stained glass windows, at times misunderstood and frightening for years. Some children were left at home because their “inappropriate” behavior in church embarrassed the parents.

A few cities had and have a Signing priest doing Deaf ministry with adults. He often provided catechesis for deaf teens, but if children were “oral”, they were kept away from that priest lest they see Sign. Hearing catechists were recruited for children using oralism; a few deaf adults were catechists for children who used Sign.

Over the years, a variety of methods of communication have been used with deaf children - oralism, Signing Exact English, Total Communication, American Sign Language, Cued Speech, Rochester Method (fingerspelling only). The parents usually decide on a specific communication method for their child. Finding catechists with skills in the various communication modes has always been a challenge.

Today – Sign language is used in the majority of schools for deaf children in the U.S. There are also schools using Cued Speech, oralism, or combinations of communication modes. Deaf and hearing persons are volunteering as catechists – some being certified by their diocese; we have Deaf priests and permanent deacons.

Catechetical materials were and are often handmade. Teachers cut pictures from magazines and old catechisms and pasted them into booklets with simple sentences. Catholic schools for the deaf developed lesson plans for their faculty to use.

In the early 1970s, Fr. David Walsh, CssR, gathered together pastoral workers with the deaf from around the United States. He offered a 10 day workshop based on 100 Lessons. These were mimeographed lesson plans written for the catechist who was then responsible for finding pictures and materials and acting out the Scripture stories.

Various catechetical leaders wrote and still write their own lessons for their situations. Original and adapted lesson plans were written from hearing religious education series, to use with or without the texts in classes with deaf children. They were presented in a method similar or suggested by the “hearing” program..

Most catechists with deaf children used these or their own home-made lessons. A few week long National Deaf Religious Education Workshops were offered in 1980s and1990s. An NCOD committee did video materials for sacrament preparation. One pastoral worker put the peace pastoral letter into simple sentences using overhead transparencies taped together to scroll the words on an overhead projector with a film strip on the pastoral. The ICF has gathered written presentations from pastoral workers with the deaf at their international symposiums and printed them into books to share ideas on catechesis, sacraments, and liturgy with deaf persons. 

One difficulty was and is the shortage of full time catechetical leaders and volunteer catechists everywhere. Often the catechist was minimally trained to communicate with the Deaf, or was skilled in communication but had little catechetical background. The children do not live in one location, but are scattered around dioceses, rural areas, or large urban centers. Some parents request that a catechist be sent to their home parish.

TODAY more deaf children are placed into hearing environments with and without interpreters. There are fewer Catholic schools for deaf children, more Signing at home and in school; more contact with Deaf adults, more interpreters needed for Mass and catechetical classes; more college educated professional Deaf church leaders and role models are needed.

Good things happening - for example, in Chicago with a full time catechetical leader for the deaf, the directors of parish catechetical programs are more aware of deaf students’ needs; Hispanic parents, after Baptism and Confirmation in Mexico, now can attend Eucharist preparation class for themselves while their deaf children attend classes; deaf persons earn Archdiocesan catechetical certification and awards at Archdiocesan events. Some catechists have volunteered for over 25 years.

Many weekend catechetical programs have been adapted for Deaf persons over the years: TEC, (Teens Encounter Christ), Cursillo, Marriage Encounter, Pre-Cana,.RCIA. .

2)  the vision/mission

From the numbers of deaf and hard of hearing children in the United States (36,710 in 2008 by a research survey), a large percentage come from Catholic families. The Church has a responsibility to assure that appropriate catechetical, sacramental, and liturgical opportunities are available to all these Catholic children now and as adults.

Our mission involves an awareness in the Church: bishops, priests, diocesan directors of religious education, parish staffs, catechists, the Deaf community. The Church leaders need to recognize, encourage, and train the leadership in the Deaf Community to do the pastoral work. All dioceses need to provide personnel and resources for this.

With Newborn Infant Hearing Screening a federal law in the U.S., the Catholic parents’ first church contact regarding their deaf child is usually their parish while planning the Baptism. Thus the parish staff as “first responder” needs to have empathy, training and information.

INCULTURATION must truly happen in deaf catechesis. There are as many different kinds of deaf children as there are deaf children. It’s not as simple as “child knows Sign, catechist knows Sign, faith development easy”, nor as simple as “child has hearing aids or a cochlear implant, child can speak fairly clear, put child in a hearing class without support services”.

Deaf children attending their first catechetical session are, at times, unfamiliar with the words or Sign for “God”, “Jesus”, “Church” and “prayer”. They may not understand the concept of a question. If you ask “Who…….?” Or “What did….do?” they might stare at you. Gestures may be used in their homes rather than questions, or question work was not yet taught in school. The catechist has the option then to either teach the word “who” or change to a different religious concept or method in that moment.

Deaf adults and young deaf teens have access to modern technology, which they use for communicating socially and for collecting information. Our mission is that they also have access to religious education to develop Christian values, to form a Christian conscience, to develop a relationship with God thru Jesus, in this fast moving tech world.

Catechesis and faith development depend on the faith of the catechist, the grace of God, and the openness of the person, as well as on lesson plans and materials. The deaf child’s faith life grows within their family and within a Church community which learns to communicate with each other, and expresses God’s love.

Catholic deaf catechesis has been changing over the past 50 years as deaf education methods and catechetical methods have changed, yet much still needs done. There are still many dioceses and parishes who don’t see families with Deaf as part of the norm. We are seen as “special, disabled, different, can’t be served”. They want to place our services (often seen as voluntary) - in the administrative structure- under Catholic Charities, under School Office, under social service ministries – rather than under the Pastoral Offices of the Diocese,

3) What is needed to make it happen?

The Church leaders need to give support, in the form of personnel, resources, and research, to develop appropriate materials and programs for formation and training in “deaf” catechesis, and to provide quality pastoral services for and with the Deaf Community. Persons in leadership in the “hearing Church” need training in deaf culture, and awareness of how unjust, insensitive, and insulting their words and behavior can be. This is basic to making decisions about cutting diocesan agencies, approving training programs for leadership roles, celebrating confirmations, ordinations, and liturgies involving deaf persons. .

We need training for all parish staffs – for pastors to avoid allowing a deaf child to receive sacraments without catechesis because “he sat quiet in church”; for directors of catechetical programs to avoid turning away the parents of a deaf child with “we can’t serve your child, sorry”, or asking a parent to interpret a 12 year old son’s confession.

The catechist of the deaf needs to know, (in addition to the teachings of the Church), the way this person in front of me thinks, experiences relationships, understands and expresses emotions, uses language, and expresses his/her sense of the spiritual.

Research and studies have been done about how deaf persons learn. “Visual communication/catechesis” needs to be fully brought into deaf catechetical programs. It involves a different formation process for the catechist, the catechumen, and the students; a different environment for learning, for prayer, for liturgy, for relationships. It involves more time, money, space, materials, and personnel. This can lead to conflicts with the local parish or diocese, Too often it results in compromises on the part of the deaf person/community with feelings of being shut out or leaving a session with misunderstandings due to inappropriate methods used.

The curriculum for hearing children is put into textbook series with systemic and cyclic curriculum by teams of varied experts and professions. Adapting these hearing materials is a weak second choice. Often the adaptations for deaf students are not understood or do not cover the “entire content”. The reason we “adapt” hearing programs is because we don’t have the funding nor the collaboration for all the work and expertise that is involved in “creating” a catechetical systemic series. Publishers say our numbers are not enough for them to get involved.

First choice is research and the gathering of experts (deaf) to draw from the deaf experience, culture, and ways of learning. The Catholic Deaf community needs a catechetical series that incorporates the skills of experts.(GDC #243). These experts should include those from related fields who know: what is appropriate for deaf children at various age levels, reading ability, readiness, psychological and intellectual understanding of religious concepts, visual communication, and what are the gradual steps needed for the development of faith and theological facts. Also needed are curriculum developers, experts who have worked on “hearing series”, as well as theology and catechetical experts. Then preschool through senior citizen catechesis can be developed that flows from deaf experiences and needs. This can not be done in a one time meeting, but with an on-going long range plan.

The research done for the book “Eye Centered” has offered a number of suggestions which I don’t think have yet been applied to deaf children’s catechetical programs. Why do catechists say “after 2 years, the children still don’t understand, and we need to repeat the same material from last year”? Is the method inappropriate? Has readiness not been done? Do the children need more actual experiences and less “talk” and “book learning”?

Curriculum materials are needed for use in different situations with different communication modes, and especially with children who are “deaf and…” (autistic, cognitive processing difficulties, etc.)

Catechesis involves Scripture and liturgy. Adaptations for the Deaf in these areas has begun, but is very limited and at times remains “too hearing”. This adds confusion to the catechetical process. Further study, research, and decisions are needed.

Catechists (deaf and hearing) in the Deaf community walk in 2 (sometimes 3) cultures – with the children and the adults. The children are often living between the culture of their parents (be that Deaf or Hearing, English speaking or another language/culture), and the culture they are most comfortable in (Deaf or Hearing, and ethnic) socially, educationally, and for their Church community.

There is a need to organize and make available international cooperation in the gathering of any research and development of materials and training programs. This sharing can now be done through the Internet, but needs funding.

With great dedication and faith, Deaf and hearing pastoral workers have planted and nurtured seeds of faith among many Deaf Communities and with many deaf individuals!

What a history we witnessed, and participated in making happen, in the past 50 years! 

FOOTNOTES

General Catechetical Directory (GDC) –Vatican document 1997

Catechesis Tradentae (CT) –Vatican document 1979

GDC #135 and #170 adaptations

GDC #38 the goal is to present the entire content

GDC #233-245 formation of catechists

CT 66 # catechists in mission lands

CT 68 # family catechesis

Holy Trinity Day Classes for the Deaf, with Fr. John Marren pastor and Sr. Philip (Phyllis) Winter, principal, DePaul University (B.S. Deaf Education) and Mundelein/Loyola University (MA in Religious Studies/Religious Education) of Chicago, plus Loyola University’s Institute for Pastoral Studies and Northern Illinois University counseling for the deaf program.

1968-1970 full time catechetical leader at Catholic Office of the Deaf under Cardinal Cody in the Special Religious Education Department (Fr. James McCarthy) at the Chicago archdiocesan Office of Religious Education – Fr. Theodore Stone, director.

1979-2008 Full time catechetical leader at the Catholic Office of the Deaf, Archdiocese of Chicago – Fr. Joseph A. Mulcrone, director (under Cardinal Cody, Cardinal Bernardin, and Cardinal Francis George.)

Ms. Marian Quinn at Catholic Charities Day Classes for the Deaf program. In the mid 1960s, with the faculty in the Chicago Catholic deaf day school program (an oral program) created a series of texts called “Come and See”. A Mass missal was also adapted for deaf children.

Sr. Joan Glostein in California wrote mimeographed lesson plans for her volunteers and they were sent around the country; Sr. Mary Kraemer adapted some Sadlier Co texts in the 1970s, Nancy Huber wrote adaptations for the deaf of the Chicago SPRED program in the late 1960s, and adapted a Wm. C. Brown Co. series in the 1980s .

RCIA for Deaf Adults began with deaf catechists trained in archdiocesan certificate programs Patricia Flannery Slisz , Chicago and Deacon Tom Ryan, Louisville KY

Fr. Walsh had asked Sr. Maura Joseph and Sr. Kathy Costello (teachers of the deaf) and Fr. Rudy Gawlik to prepare the 100 Lesson Plans.

In the 48 years I’ve been involved, Chicago has been blessed to have a full time priest for the Deaf, except for a few years– Fr. Jim Egan SJ, Fr. Jack Brennan, Fr. Bernard Tyler OSA, and Fr. Joseph Mulcrone, who has been director of the Chicago Catholic Office of the Deaf for the past 32 years. Most dioceses have no one, or only a part time volunteer.

http://gri.gallaudet.edu/Demographics/2008_National_Survey.pdf (Gallaudet University survey of deaf and hard and hearing children ages 3 to 18-20.

“Eye-Centered” Fr. Bill Key and committee

Liturgical and scriptural adaptations: The wonderful videos on Bible translations and the Mass by Deacon Patrick Graybill are available, but interpreters and catechists in some dioceses are unaware of them. Individual interpreters’ are often on their own when interpreting Sunday liturgies or readings. Fr. Rich Leburti CSSR and Fr. Len Broniak CSSR have written adaptations of the Sunday readings and distributed them nationally.

Fr. Michael Depcik (deaf priest) has had a vlog website for the past 2 years and explains various parts of the Catholic faith in American Sign Language.