THURS, 11/19: an amazing day. Again,another bright, sun shining day in Rome with temperatures in the 70's. Today was the first day of the Conference on the Deaf Person in the Catholic Church. We all went over to the Vatican to meet in the Synod Conference Hall with the meetings beginning at 9am. There was one Cardinal, five archbishops, and four other bishops there along with 400 people(100 of whom were deaf) from 60 countries! We had four spoken languages(English, Spanish, Italian, French) and four sign-language interpreters on large video screens(ASL, Spanish, Italian, British Sign-Language), then seven other sign-languages going on: Mexican,German, Polish, Irish,Australian,French, and deaf-blind sign-language for Fr. Cyril Axelrod a deaf-blind priest.
The morning session went from 9am-12:30pm with many talks. Several highlights:
a representative from the World Health Organization pointed out that 80% of all the deaf people in the world live in working-class and poor situations. They have no access to technology, special education, appropriate medical care, employment, or legal protections.
DEACON PATRICK GRAYBILL gave a great presentation about his experience as a deaf person in the world and the Church;
MARY ANN BARTH & CHELO MANERO presented their paper on 'THE PSYCHOLOGICAL WORLD OF THE DEAF PERSON; many deaf people were in tears because they signed afterwards that Maryann and Chelo were the first people to truly and honestly address the life experience of deaf people in a public way.(That paper is available on the website of the Catholic Office of the Deaf).
12:30-4pm: afternoon break.At lunch, I had the chance to talk with Fr. Charley Dittmeier who works with the deaf in Cambodia. Till 1997 - 1997 - there was no official sign-language in that country.Only now are they actually putting a sign-language dictionary together. Ran into Fr. Harry Stocks from Toronto, Canada. he worked with the deaf in India for many years. However, the Indian government would not let him return. Why? Because Harry tried to build schools for the deaf and the governement bureaucrats were stealing all the money. When Harry protested, the government cancelled his visa and would not let him come back.
4pm: we came back for more talks and discussions, including a presentation by a religious Sister who works with the deaf in Indonesia and a young Catechist who works with the deaf in Malaysia. Then, questions and comments from people of Malta, Chile, Italy,Guinea(Africa), and Britain. Finally ended at 7:45pm. People went off to eat or walk around Rome this gorgeous, cool evening.